


Among Us but your child's an impostor

by Executortionist



Series: A Wholesome Ride [1]
Category: Among Us (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Is this a slow burn?, Mini crewmate is a mini impostor, gore probably, haha maybe, no beta we die like men, white is a nice guy, written in second person
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:34:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 39,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26983726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Executortionist/pseuds/Executortionist
Summary: A small crewmate is left behind by its parent, and damn your heart, it's yours now.In which you are Pink, it's almost Christmas, and you have a son.
Relationships: Crewmate & Impostor (Among Us), Crewmate/Impostor (Among Us), Crewmate/Impostor/Impostor (Among Us)
Series: A Wholesome Ride [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1977463
Comments: 711
Kudos: 1124





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ayy so I don't rlly play among us because mobile is shite but its really cute to think about the little 'uns, so have this.

You found him on your last expedition to the Skeld. A little boy, abandoned and alone, still wearing the cyan colour of his parent, who had just been shot out of the airlock. An impostor, so everyone thought.

  
No one wanted to take the young one in, but you took pity on the him. He was small and vulnerable, it tugged harshly at your heart and you couldn’t help yourself. He couldn’t talk, but you started calling him Thomas anyway. You always imaged that if you'd had a little boy, you'd name him Thomas. 

  
Upon return to the Earth base, you learned more about your little son. He could eat, and he could hide. The first time you walked into the kitchen only to see Thomas with the raw steak you’d planned to cook for dinner hanging from his mouth, you realized; your new son was an impostor.

  
An impostor you'd thoughtlessly brought to Earth.

  
However, Thomas was young, and strangely affectionate. He would constantly curl up beside you, listen attentively to your bedtime stories, and sleep peacefully through the night. He looked like a normal little boy- if not for the thin, scar-looking line on his chest, looking vaguely like a jagged lowercase ‘n’.

  
Later, you found out that was his ‘real’ mouth. A gapping maw full of sharp teeth and a tongue that could pierce flesh. He ate the neighbour’s annoying dog this way, and you couldn’t bring yourself to be mad. Nonetheless, you sat him down for a talk.

When you were contacted for your next expedition, again to the Skeld, you ordered a smaller pink suit to accompany your own. You knew how these missions usually went, and it was almost always life or death, but that was fine with you.

Perhaps you could even get Thomas back to his people, despite not knowing if that’s what you truly wanted. Over the months, you’d grown close to the little guy.

  
The fated day came when the suit came, and dutifully you outfitted yourself and your boy. Before it came time for you to board, you crouched beside Thomas. “Listen buddy, I know you’ll watch my back, and I know it’ll be beyond tempting, but please don’t eat anyone in plain sight. Keep an eye out. Be careful of the bigger ones, okay?” tiny Thomas nodded, “and please, if there's any impostors on this mission, please go to them if anything happens to me.” 

  
Thomas nodded again, this time more hesitantly. But he knew his species. He knew, if something were to happen to you, it would be the impostors. He knew, too, there was a small chance your own race could turn on you. You placed a hand on his helmet and shook it slightly, “You're a good kid.”

  
That was that, and you were off with your little mini-me. Your alias, Pink as per the colour of your suit, was called and you boarded with the ten others. You would all be placed in a stasis for the majority of the ride to the satellite, but take off was always done awake, and it was always bumpy. To your relief, you were the only one with a kid.

  
Of course, there was always that loudmouth on board. The scoff was loud, and the mutters about kids on board was even louder. You turned towards the offender, Blue, and glared. You hoped he could feel it through the glass of your mask.

  
Surprisingly, it was Black who came to your defense, “C’mon man, chill. So what if they’ve got a kid? People bring ‘em all the time.” Blue didn’t answer, instead turning away and taking his assigned seat.

  
When you turned to look at Black, he was looking in your direction. You waved your thanks, since you were pretty opposite of each other on the ship. He waved back. He looked like he was about to come over, but the overhead light started flashing red, and the robotic warning recording came on. It was time to buckle up and go.

  
You took your assigned seat, between Thomas and Red, and buckled up. You held tightly to your son’s hand, and soon, the usual rattle of take off started.

  
This time, you thought, you had to come home alive. You and your son.

  
\--

  
When you opened your eyes, it was to your son shaking your shoulder. You shook the light layer of dust off yourself, and absentmindedly dusted off your tiny imposter as well. He seemed so small in this setting, only reaching just below your hips. You weren’t even the tallest one board; that honour went to Black, the one who’d defended your right to bring a kid on board earlier. Or well, earlier to you. You’d all been in stasis for a month, but it only felt like minutes. Long minutes, but minutes nonetheless.

  
Looking around, it seemed everyone was more or less awake. Purple was just stumbling up, and Green was already pulling out the hats. 

  
The only fun part of the mission was the hats, and they were always stored on the travel shuttle. It was tradition, and you loved it. Digging through the box, you immediately found what would make you happiest; a crown of Christmas lights. It had its own little battery attached, and had three light settings. You were so happy to have this. 

  
Digging a little deeper, you found another one, to your joy. You plopped it right onto Thomas' helmeted head. “It’s almost Christmas, so we have to be festive.” You murmured to him. He nodded and lightly touched his new adornment. You could tell he was happy. “We’ll turn them on as soon as we're aboard, ‘kay?” He nodded again, and you squeezed his hand. 

  
Soon enough, everyone was ready. Only a few people chose to wear hats this time, and it made you feel a little down. Clearly this crew would be one of the more serious ones, which wasn’t bad, but it usually brought the whole ship to anarchy at some point. Seriously crews threw serious accusations, in your experience. 

  
You absently wondered if, and how fast, this team would go to shit.


	2. Human interaction is awkward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Human interaction is awkward, and you are happy to see space again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow two chapters in one night, nice.

The first thing everyone did once aboard the Skeld was find the barracks. Rows of beds filled the room, and you settled for one near the door for Thomas. He had a tendency to wake in the night occasionally, and it might be worse now that they weren’t planetside. Better to be near the door just in case.

  
Yellow chose the bed beside you, and across was Black. Diagonally, beside Black, was White, who hadn't said a word to you yet, but seemed to talk to Blue and Green often enough. 

  
This mission had all new members, which was nice. Considering that only two returned from the last mission alive, that wasn’t surprising. You hadn't heard from last mission's Orange, and you were sure it was made to stay that way. No amount of therapy could help that person, you knew.

  
At least if you kept going on these missions, you knew what you were in for. Death? Pah. Death didn’t scare you normally. You would be more cautious this time for your son, but you knew, deep down, death was just the end. An absolute destination after the journey that was life, and you would take full advantage of that journey to at least see what stars and planets you could.

  
Space was dark and vast. A never-ending void full of life and wonder. Some days, after your tasks were done, you would sit in the cafeteria and gaze out into that darkness and feel peace.

  
Now you had a small boy to sit with, but that wouldn’t stop you from showing him the wonders that you could.

  
The second day was the day everything started coming together. Tasks were assigned at breakfast. As long as you managed your time appropriately and got them done before dinner, you could have as many breaks and as much free time as you wanted.

  
You were one of the ones that ate breakfast, prioritized tasks, and was done before lunch. After that time you usually read books, stargazed, or helped other. This time, with a child, was a little different.  
You would have to keep Thomas occupied. If not, it could end in disaster. What if he revealed himself in the company of others? Would he draw the attention of any imposters on board? Were there imposters on board? Only time would tell. You hoped this time the killing wouldn’t start too quickly. You really wanted to relax a bit on this trip.

  
Unfortunately, relaxing just wasn’t in the cards for you that day. As soon as you got started on your tasks in Navigation, the sound of the door opened behind you alerted you to someone entering. Thomas gave a small hiss, but you barely noticed.  
Turning your head, you found White standing in the doorway. He was still and silent for a few moments, before finally his hand came up in a wave, and finished by rubbing his neck. A nervous tick.

  
“Hey Pink, how’s it going? Sorry, just have a task here.” You nodded to him in return, and your mini-me pressed closely to your legs. In response, you patted his helmet.

  
White, meanwhile, hadn’t gone on to his task. Instead, he spoke again, “So are you like they're mother or something? I’ve never seen someone with a kid on board before.”

You shrugged, “Or something, I adopted him not too long before this expedition. His name is Thomas.” You patted Thomas on the helmet again, “He’s a good kid.”

White gave pause, but nodded, “Interesting, but why would you adopt and still come to this hellhole?”

  
“No choice.” You shrugged. You wouldn’t lie, but you wouldn’t tell the truth or expand either. A memory of poor little Thomas sitting on the floor by the airlock passed through your mind, and your hands around your task controls tightened. Your poor boy, it wouldn’t happen again.

  
The rest of White’s presence was borne in silence. You didn’t want to talk, and he obviously felt awkward, so you left with a wave as soon as you were done, your mini-me right on your heels. After that, you did your scan in med bay, emptied some trash chutes, and then you were done. Perfectly timed for lunch, too, just like you planned it.

  
During this time, you split some frozen meal with your son. You weren’t that hungry, frankly, and Thomas was a bit of a, as you would call it, ‘picky' eater. You didn’t know how you would support your baby here on this space station, but you would figure it out. Everything would be fine.

  
Your son's penchant for raw meat aside, the atmosphere in the cafeteria was quiet. The wide windows with their benches were tempting, so you threw what was left of your meal in the trash, and pulled your son along.

  
You stared out, the stars always somewhat different on the Skeld, but always the same distance away. You were orbiting a planet called Polus, but that mattered little. You'd been on a mission there once, and the lava pools made it unbearably hot, not to mention the strange purple dust that somehow managed to get into every crevice of your suit.

  
You had memories of that place too. Of lava consuming a crew member. Not because of anything- they’d simply tripped, and that was the end. It just went on to prove that you didn’t always need impostors to die.

  
The noise of joy your boy made brought you out of your thoughts. He was pressed tightly to the glass, his helmet clinking rapidly against it as he practically vibrated in place. Huh, the kid must have missed space, not that you blamed him. You simply hummed in contentment.

  
That is, until a voice cleared behind you.  
Thomas jumped in fright, but you simply turned to look behind you. There was Black, standing tall, with two cans of iced coffee plus a juice box in his large hands, “Wanna drink?” 

  
He couldn’t tell, but you were smiling behind your mask as you nodded, reaching for the drinks he offered, “Care to join us?” You asked.

  
His body language brightened, and he sat. You passed along the juice box to your boy after inserting the straw, and lifted his mask just enough so he could drink it comfortably. You did the same to you own mask; headquarters usually insisted on keeping everyone's identities a secret, but after this many expeditions, you stopped caring so much. Black, likewise, followed your lead. You peeked and saw a pair of pleasantly shaped lips, with prominent laugh lines surrounding their small, pleased smile. It brought out a smile of your own. It felt human- not like they were currently stranded on a workstation until someone decided it was time to bring them home.

  
“so how’re you finding the ship so far?” you figured with that question, Black must be new, but you answered him in kind,

  
“Same as always I suppose, dirty, lighting too dark, rooms too big…but at least there’s this,” you gestured towards the window, “this is my favourite part. How about you?”

  
Black hummed in answer, “I suppose the same. Though the novelty of it hasn’t passed yet. It's only my third time in space y'know?” Oh yes, you knew. The novelty of space. It hadn't passed for you until things started going horribly wrong, but even then, in the moments of complete aloneness, when things were still and your mind was clear, and this window was in front of you, you couldn’t help but still feel it.

  
“I know what you mean.” You said I quietly, almost to yourself, and a comfortable silence followed. For a few moments it was uninterrupted, until Thomas passed you his juice box. “Did you finish your tasks?” you asked Black. He nodded. “Any plans for the rest of the day?”

  
“Nah, I was just gonna hang around, explore. I don’t remember the layout of this place very well, I’ve been glancing at my map at every turn!” You chuckled at Black's proclamation. 

  
You spent some time after that talking about your first trips to the Skeld and how star struck and lost you'd been. You were trained for it, but at the time you'd been young and drunk off the idea of the stars. Careless.

  
Soon enough, as more people drifted into the cafeteria, you put your and your son’s masks down, nodded to Black while wishing him farewell and a happy afternoon, and went off to search the storage space by the barracks for any games. Usually there was the odd board game or puzzle hanging around, and you would find them. You would entertain your tiny cute little boy while the peace lasted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was a bit longer, I hate writing dialogue. Thanks for viewing!


	3. The First Sabotage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The lights go out. No problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter go away from me, it's twice as long as the last.
> 
> I wrote half of this at work. Oh the joys of being a receptionist during covid

White was hitting on you.

  
It wasn’t noticeable at first. Sure, he stared a lot, and had a lot of tasks in the same areas as you, but it was always with an air of uncomfortable awkwardness that you interacted with him. Apparently that feeling wasn’t mutual, because he followed you around near constantly.

  
Thomas hated White.

  
Your boy would hiss and cling as soon as he caught sight of the crewmember. It was amusing at first, but now it worried you. Was White and impostor? Is that why Thomas reacted the way he did? Was Thomas going to give himself away?

  
So far, thankfully not. Your boy was safe. White, however, was suspicious.

  
That was, until you realized his true intentions. Opening doors for you, offering to get your rations, even offering to take over your tasks. It was annoying, you didn’t appreciate it like he thought you should.

You took to trying to avoid White, and you got to know Yellow. Sweet, timid Yellow, and by extension, Orange.

  
Apparently they grew up together, chose a career together, and went on expeditions together constantly. Where one was, so was the other. You thought this was unbearably adorable. They were certifiably friend-married, and they loved your boy. They thought he was a little simple and odd, but he was a kid, and it was excusable. 

  
Yellow also shared your planetside hobby of gardening. You could both talk about gardens for hours, with Orange occasionally piping in about his own failed gardening attempts. Apparently, he could kill plants just by looking at them. Good thing he has Yellow.

  
Eventually White would find you during these chats and you would slip away again. This was the common theme for you getting to know the rest of the crew. It was a good excuse.

  
Red was an extremely serious, task oriented individual. Often you saw him walking the halls checking on other crew members. He was always dissatisfied or frustrated when he caught members goofing off or being lazy. 

  
Green was the opposite; always ready to have a good time, always relaxed, always had ways to relax people. Green was a socialite to the max, and whenever you spoke with him you found it hard to get away again, as he could talk a mile a minute about anything under the sun. Or in this case, in the ship.

  
You hadn’t spoken to Blue again since his first judgement about your child, but you did help another crew member, Purple, avoid his wrath. Purple was tall, almost as tall as Black, and also extremely clumsy. If you could drop it, chances are Purple already has. Tripping on air and bumping into things was his specialty, but you liked him anyway. He was sweet, and reminded you of your brother back on Earth, who lumbered around in a similar way.

  
Another crew member you haven’t spoken to was Brown, but you barely saw him speak to anyone at all, and so you weren’t offended. On occasion he said few words to Black, but that was it. Black, on the other hand, was similar to Green in that he was one of the friendliest on the crew. Always speaking with someone, always happy for company. It made you warm on the inside when he'd offer you drinks and sit quietly with you and Thomas. It made you feel special.

  
Usually when White interrupted these quiet moments, you could practically feel the displeasure from Black. Hell, you felt it yourself. White was annoying, but apparently he didn’t get the memo about himself. One of these days you would say something, you told yourself. No matter how badly your personality said otherwise.  
You were too damn soft-spoken for this job.

  
Thankfully, Black mentioned the last time you saw each other that if it got too out of hand, he would step in. That was nice, to have someone watch your back and defend you. You were a sucker for those kinds of people.

  
Which would explain your small crush on Black.

  
You thought about it as you went along your tasks, a young one following obediently behind you and the Christmas lights atop your helms flashing merrily. To complete the atmosphere, you tried to teach your kid Christmas carols. He would him along just fine, but still he did not speak. It was beyond cute.

  
Except, Thomas's alien ways were starting to show. He was hungry, you knew, and there wasn’t a sustainable source of fresh meat on the ship, other than the crewmates. You would have to find something fast, or at least hope for a murder soon to feed your son. What length would you go to, you wondered, to keep your boy alive and well?

  
You glanced towards him, his cute little fingers playing with some wires on the floor. Your heart did that weird tightening thing. Indigestion, or love? Definitely love.

  
You loved your baby boy.

  
You also, apparently, held a small love for tall, dark, and protective. You were nearing the end of the first week of your assignment, and so far nothing bad had happened. This was good, and it made you feel good too. You hoped this would be the trend for the whole missi-

  
And there went the lights. Of course you have to jinx it. Thankfully, you were already in electrical, and you and your son's hats lit up the room a relative amount. This was fine. Electrical was usually the spookiest place on the station, but right now you felt right at home.

  
Humming jingle bells to yourself, you got to work seeing what the issue was. The shutdown wasn’t from electrical, meaning you’d have to find the source and possibly switch he breakers back on. No big deal. 

  
You ushered your son to follow in front of you. There was no way you wanted him to follow behind in this darkness, as he could easily be scooped away by any baddies. Uneasily, you made it to the source, the map of the station reflecting lightly on the inside of your helmet. You gripped his hand tightly, switching off both your Christmas hats for good measure. Light would make you a clear target in this environment. You would be safe. You had to be.

Fixing the lights didn’t take nearly as long as it might've, as both White and Red were already on the scene. Between the three of you, you managed to get everything in working order, and soon after Red called a meeting in the cafeteria.

  
Knowing how these things went, you sat quietly. The team chatted idly about locations, impostor protocols, and emergency meeting guidelines. No one was dead this time, but you felt a shiver go down your spine at the thought of next time. Now you would keep a keener eye out, and listen and watch for the suspicious.

  
Like White, for example. He had his arm around you, and you hated it. You wondered if you could punch him in the throat from this angle. He was loudly proclaiming your innocents, and whispering that he would protect you from now on. A buddy system that made you grimace. Anyone would be better than White. You would even take Blue.

  
Luckily for you, it was too early to implement a buddy system. No one was dead, so you were all free to return to your given tasks. You could tell the newbies from the veterans now, as Blue, Purple, and Green all fidgeted nervously. You imagined they all wore the same expression of shifty-eyed suspicion on their faces.

  
“People will be keeping better watch now, Thomas. We'll have to be careful, so just stick by me.” Thomas nodded and clung to your hand. His small body was pressed against your leg, and you gently shook his helmet in affection. 

  
After the meeting, your next task was in Admin. Thankfully they were easy and fast, only, it took you almost ten tries to scan your card. Seriously, HQ needed to fix the damn scanners, or invest in better technology. 

  
Unfortunately, this is also where White found you once again. He seemed pretty puffed up today, false confidence to cover up his obvious terror. You were done your tasks and just about to push past him when he grabbed your arm and dragged you deeper into the room.

  
This made you nervous, but you’d taken down bigger foes before. He was supposed to be your crew mate as well, so he shouldn’t hurt you, right? You glanced down at your three foot tall follower; he gazed back, and you swear you saw his eyes glowing red from this angle.

  
White turned you to face him, and you held steady under his gaze. You couldn’t see his expression, but at this point his body language screamed ‘trying to be suave'. It left a bad taste in your mouth. 

  
“So what say you dump the kid and go on a date with me?” you mentally shook yourself at his tone, ew.

  
“I'd rather be ejected from the ship, White. Please leave me alone.” White leaned against the center console, accidentally turning on the map that showed everyone’s locations. You noticed with a slight feeling of dread that everyone was basically on the opposite side of the ship. The nearest person to you was Brown, in navigation. Shit.

  
Well, you’d just have to handle White on your own. Squaring up, you interrupted whatever shit White was spewing and tried to project your glare into your voice. “I said no.”

  
Your head jarred oddly in your helmet as it was whipped to the side by the force of White's slap. “Stupid bitch, you should know your place!” He wasn’t shouting, but he may was well be. Was this some nice guy bullshit you'd heard about on Earth? Was this really happening to you, in front of your boy?

  
You growled in the back of your throat, only to realize the sound wasn’t completely you. Looking down, you saw your tiny son looking at White, his small pink suit bulging oddly in places. White seemed to notice as well, and before he could dart off you quickly closed and locked the door to prevent his escape.

  
This was happening. Someone was finding out about Thomas, your small impostor son. Unfortunate that it had to be White, or was it? Was this the answer to your feeding problem?

  
The answer to your question came with the ripping of Thomas's suit. Tentacles and teeth reigned prominent on his body, and his upper torso expanded in a way that definitely shouldn’t be possible. This was an impostor. This was your son.

  
He ate White's upper half whole, in one bite. It crunched in a way that echoed through your skull, and your boy returned to normal size right after.

  
You’d once had a pet snake, when you were in your teens. You'd fed it frozen baby rats. Watching your son gobble up White was sort of like that- unhinged, with muscles humans didn’t have working to compress the bones and meat into something manageable.

  
You had the hysterical thought about your son's suit. How would you fix it? What now? Blood was still spurting from White's lower half, his spine lying limp on the ground. You'd never seen a bone look so real.

  
You didn’t throw up, thank the heavens, but that didn’t stop your concern about your son. Before you knew it, even his suit was mended, the smaller tentacles producing something scarily similar to the material. He was clean too. Did he absorb the blood? Looking down at yourself, you noticed a tentacle lapping at your boots lazily. Alright, your boy slurped up blood through his tentacles. Alright.

  
You had the horrifying thought of someone finding you here. You glanced at the map. No one had moved. Could you dispose of a body unnoticed? Storage was just down the hall. You could throw him out the air lock.

  
Yeah. That's what you'd do. You had to protect Thomas. You hoped to god no one was on security watching.

  
Grimacing, you picked up the lower half. It was just legs, light enough to carry, but still heavy. Glancing back and forth down the hall, checking to see if the camera light was on, you sighed in relief. Here you went. One large step towards the betrayal of your species. You could do this.

  
You made it to the church and chucked the body in quickly, releasing the trash with it. Looking down at your boy, you saw the same tentacle again cleaning up the blood trail behind you. Great. No need for the good old mop and bleach treatment.

Before anyone could realize it was you and find whatever evidence was left, you hurried to the cafeteria. You weren’t hungry, but you were up for some serious star gazing and introspection. Your gaze landed on Thomas.

  
“Listen, buddy. That was lucky. We're lucky no one was near. We have to be more careful, ‘kay? If it had to be anyone on this crew, I’m glad it was White.” You patted the side of his helmet, “you're a good kid. I’m sorry I’m so bad at this. I hope you aren’t hungry anymore.” You felt bad it came to this. Ugh, you felt so bad, like a gap in pit had opened in your stomach. You’d disposed of a body. They would suspect you right off the bat due to location alone, if they found out. They would find out. If not right away, definitely by dinner.

  
Your focus came back to Thomas, he was fidgeting. You still had your hand on the side of his helmet. Before you could withdraw, a small voice erupted from your boy. “He hurt mama.” 

  
Mama? Yeah, you guessed you were a mother. Huh. But oh my, you adorable son's first words! You drew him into a tight embrace, “Oh you. Oh my sweet baby boy, I love you. Thank you.” He leaned into your touch like a cat, rubbing his helm on your shoulder. How beautiful this was. 

  
You were, however, interrupted by a familiar scoff, and some vague shuffling behind you and to your left. It was Blue, and you happily ignored him. He clearly didn’t have kids and so wouldn’t understand your feelings right now.

  
Thomas speaking was the highlight of your day, nothing could bring you down now. He called you mama, and your heart squeezed tighter in your chest.

  
Now, you just had to last until dinner. You just had to seem the least suspicious possible.

  
You had a kid. This would be easy, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for everyones support! Its motivational, love you all <3


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Games, and the expanse of space.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I worked on this chapter because I had a dream last night where someone commented that they couldn't read my fic because im canadian. It was funny and I wanted to share it with everyone :3c
> 
> Also thanks everyone for the support! I'm glad we're in this together <3

Dinner went as expected. People questioned where White was, but ultimately no one seemed to bothered by his disappearance. Nevertheless, glances were shared between the whole crew.

Yellow asked you if you’d seen him today, and you told the truth, “I saw him early today in Admin, but after I left I haven’t seen him since.” 

  
Well, half truth. You hoped no one could smell the lie.

  
Blue piped up, “Guys a fucking simp, who cares?” murmurs of agreement went around the table, along with louder comments about language with a child present. 

  
Red, seemingly the only ‘responsible' one on the Skeld, suggested they look in the Admin room, his last known location. You nervous glanced down at your baby sitting peacefully beside you, legs swinging without a care beneath the cafeteria bench. Did he get all the blood? You tried to think back, but the events of earlier today were shrouded in that panicked haze. You couldn’t remember if you’d left any evidence. You would just have to hope.

  
After dinner, you and your son followed at the back of the pack of crewmate intent on finding White. You stood behind Black and Brown, both silent. You caught Black glancing back at you once or twice, but you ignored it in favour watching the ground for any clues to your deeds.

  
So far, nothing. 

  
Admin was quiet when Red opened the door with a soft click. The silence was ominous, weighing heavily on your heart and shoulders. Squeezing little Pink's hand, you peered around the stationary bodies of your crewmates.

  
The room was clean. Empty.

  
The relief you felt at that was staggering. Like a weight equivalent of the entire ship had been lifted from your shoulders. They wouldn’t find out.

  
The only evidence was the still popped map, displaying everyone's location in Admin. 

  
Despite your relief, the tension among the crew was palpable. You could see most everyone’s shoulders tense, could see suspicious glances. From the back of the group, you could see everything. Every twitch. 

  
“What if we call him out from comms?” you spoke up from the back, and most everyone turned to you. This was a good idea, you thought. Was deflecting suspicion off you. You could work with this.

  
“Good idea, Pink. Let’s go everyone.” Red said, fighting his way to the back, now front. This made you nervous, as now you had the whole team following behind you as you followed Red. Black and Brown's presence behind you felt like a brick wall.

You clasped Thomas' hand tighter.

The silence was unbearable. The sound of boots on metal floors was worse. You couldn’t wait for this night to be over.

  
Your trip to comms proved useless, of course, and Red let everyone be on their way with a promise to create search parties for tomorrow. Though, you're not sure what purpose that would serve. There were only so many places one could be on a ship like this. 

  
You curled up with Thomas in his bed that night. You held him to you tightly as he fell into sleep, and you eventually followed. The sound of bones crunching bouncing around in your brain as a reminder of the day. 

  
\--

  
The morning went by in a similar fashion. Red assigned everyone a buddy, as was protocol, and you ended up partnered with Brown. You were weary of Brown, having not spoken to him much, or seen him speak much. He was very much the embodiment of the silent loner.

  
Nevertheless, you both went about your tasks efficiently. Breakfast was spent huddling over both your schedules and planning for close rooms first. You mapped the whole ship for the fastest route to complete your tasks, and Brown didn’t complain. From the other side of the cafeteria, Black waved to you as he left with Green. Of course Red would partner the two chatterboxes together. You couldn’t help but feel slightly envious, Black was one of your only friends on the ship, along with Yellow and Orange.

  
In a way, you were thankful for the quiet Brown provided, but it still would have been nice to pair with one of your friends.

  
You noticed quickly that Brown wasn’t good at tasks. He struggled with simple things like equalizing power, fumbled with wires, and stared at navigation like it was completely foreign. You felt bad for him. Either he had extreme nerves when being watched, or had only just passed the training courses with the bare minimum. Still, it wasn’t the worst you'd come across. You helped him as best you could, instructing him or showing him slowly how to do the tasks. 

  
It was kind of funny, actually. You crouched before an electrical panel, your hand examining the wires that needed fixing. Brown, as well as tiny Thomas, both hovered over you shoulders, crowding your space. If you weren’t wearing suits, you'd be able to feel their breath. 

  
With a small flourish of your hands and a quiet ta-da, you finished the last task of the day. You’d taken a break for lunch today, as you’d practically done two peoples amount of work and wasn’t able to finish it before lunch came around. As you stood, both Thomas and Brown didn’t bother moving too much, beyond straightening themselves. You patted your son on the helmet, and Brown on the side of his arm, your body language bright and friendly. “Good job today, both of you! If you ever need help with tasks Brown, let me know. I don’t mind helping or teaching what you need.”

  
Brown nodded, and hesitantly patted the hand that was resting on his arm. Ugh, as silent as he was, Brown sure was a cute person. You felt like you really got to know him in the hours you were together.

  
Brown came across as someone who was shy, but willing to participate when accompanied by someone he was comfortable with. This was understandable, you knew a lot of people like this. He also wasn’t very confident, as shown by his failure in tasks. You hoped it wouldn’t take him too long to get used to them.

  
It was probably his first expedition too. Poor Brown. You resolved to be a better friend to him.

  
While you were spending time with Brown, the perfect opportunity arose to implement your new befriendment plan. Your little boy, with his cute little voice, whispered up from below your hips, “Mama..? Can we play?” and you nearly doubled over with the force of which it took to hold back your squeal of emotion.

  
This child was so cute, he would most definitely be the death of you. You just wanted to squeeze him and never let go. Instead, you knelt do be level with him, “Of course we can baby, how does colouring sound? Or do you want to play a board game?”

  
“Jenga?” Oh how adorable, Thomas remembered Jenga of all things. You'd introduced it to him on Earth, and for some reason the sound of falling blocks just made your kid so happy.

  
“Of course we can play Jenga. Let's go find it, ‘kay?” you rose from your kneeling position, Thomas looking up at you as his next words trailed off in only a way a small child's could. 

  
“’Kaaayy.” Ugh, so cute. You took his hand. Mid step towards the cafeteria to find the games, you turned back to Brown, feeling slightly bad for forgetting he was there. He stood silently behind you, his body vacant of language as he watched you.

  
“Brown! You should join us for a game or two! C'mon.” you tilted your head towards the cafeteria, Brown nodded and took a step in that direction. You were happy for this new friend and determined to bring him out of his shell. He didn't deny you either, which was a good sign.

  
The three of you spent a couple hours playing various games. You had to explain the rules a few times for Brown and Thomas, but you were the happiest you’d been in a while, especially upon the Skeld. It was fun, despite Brown's selective muteness. You wouldn’t change that day for anything.

  
Except, well, for after dinner.

  
You could say the day ended on a bad note. They found White's body, or, what remained of it.

  
The crew was silent as they watched through the cafeteria window. If you squinted, you could see White's legs slowly floating away into the endless void of space. No words were exchanged, but a few of the crew pattern each other. In the case of Yellow and Orange, they clung silently to each others hands. You yourself held tightly onto Thomas' hand.

  
Still, the death of White was behind you, and there was nowhere to look but forward. You wouldn’t let this guilt rule you. You had a kid to take care of, and a new partner to protect. You fell asleep dreaming of the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love my baby impostor, I'm thinking about testing my art skills and dabbing in fanart.


	5. Christmas 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enthusiasm of the holidays.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've reached 1000 hits! And so many kudos and comments and literally everything!! Thanks so much everyone, love you all <3 
> 
> This chapters a bit shorter, but I literally have so many ideas in my brain its hard to organize. I wanted to post this last night but I couldn't get away from life :'')
> 
> Also, I'm considering changing the pairing of this fic to a pink and imposter sandwich. Tell me what you might think. Might do it anyway hah

Christmas was in a week. You didn’t realize it until Yellow and Orange approached you with the idea of setting up something special for Thomas. How could you forget? This was his first Christmas with you.

Although, there really wasn’t much to set up. The Skeld didn’t carry any decorations, the storage space used for much more practical things related to space travel. 

  
But perhaps…perhaps you could whip up something special in a week. Maybe have the whole crew participate or help out in some way. 

  
Briefly, an image of Green decorated like a Christmas tree flashed through your mind. Heh, maybe. If you were convincing enough. If possible you could backtrack to the small ship everyone arrived in and raid the hat box for more festival hats. You were sure you spotted antlers and party hats that looked like Christmas trees…

  
Your thoughts continued along this line as you went about your (and Brown's) tasks. Christmas dinner or breakfast? Impossible with the less than stellar rational meals you were given. Presents? You'd have to craft something with your bare hands.

  
Keeping it a surprise? Near impossible. You did suppose that Brown or Yellow could watch your small one as you prepared, but you didn’t really trust anyone but yourself for his care. You would’ve chosen Black as well, but you haven’t seen him by himself in more than a few days.

You were a bit worried about him. Since the White incident he hasn’t looked at you quite the same.

  
He probably thought you were suspicious. Everyone probably did. The thought made you feel shifty and afraid, you glanced over your shoulder too see your baby and Brown playing rock, paper, scissors. You relaxed.

  
So cute.

  
Finishing the task at hand, you stretched you hands above your head, cracking your back, and your shoulders, and your knees as they straightened. When you turned to your two companion, they both stood stalk still, staring at you with what could only be horror behind their dark masks. 

  
To your surprise, Thomas came to flutter near your hip as Brown looked you up and down subtly from a distance. You felt so confused right now; what was wrong with them? Was it your bones? Surely Brown had creaks and cracks throughout his day.

  
Thinking back on it, you haven’t heard so much as his knees pop. He must be extremely limber and fit for that. You considered starting a better stretch routine. 

  
Rubbing the back of your helmet, you mumbled to them, “Sorry. Should stretch more.” The fluttering from your small one stopped, and you could see the miniscule amount Brown's shoulders relaxed. Huh.

  
Well you supposed you've been with them a while now. You considered Brown a close friend, so there was no way he didn’t consider you the same. Placing your hands on your hips, you exclaimed, “Well, enough about my questionable bones! Let’s go have lunch!” 

  
And you lead the charge to the cafeteria, little Thomas marching behind you, and Brown behind him. You felt like a mama duck with a pair of ducklings. 

  
To your surprise and joy, both Green and Black were in the cafeteria, eating their meals together, as always. You waved to them and retrieved your team's meals, sitting beside Green as Brown settled beside Black, and Thomas beside you. Immediately Green's chatter went from the slop on his tray to how you and your followers were doing. He referred to your child and partner as your ‘minions’, as every time he saw you, they were trailing behind or watching you do something. The description was accurate.

  
As you ate, you spoke idly about your morning, complained about the amount of times you had to swipe your damn card in the card reader, and casually mentioned the holiday season.

  
Green perked up instantly and with a sense of nostalgia, speaking about his past holidays at home with his family. The other half of the table was silent, but you assumed perhaps they didn’t celebrate Christmas.

  
You shared a few of your own stories, and revealed that it was your first Christmas with Thomas. Green gasped, hands flying up to cover his masked mouth. “We need to do something special!” The next sentence was whispered conspicuously, “hit me up when you have time, we need to talk about this!” 

  
You nodded in response, grateful for his enthusiasm. If you could work with Green, and Yellow and Orange, and Purple, there was a good chance you could make this work. There was the small possibility of Red and Blue trying to shut it down, but if you included something for them in the celebration then surely they couldn’t deny the crew their fun.

  
It probably wouldn't stop Blue from his angry grumbling though. That guy was just always bothered by something.

  
You had the majority of the ship on your side for this holiday season, and it made you feel warm and fuzzy inside. In response to your feelings, you hugged Thomas to your side affectionately. This was going to be great.

  
You turned your focus on making sure your kid ate all his food. It might be unappealing, but it was filling and nutritious. Your son may not be human, but he still needed to eat his dried fruit mix. Even if you had to basically spoon it into his mouth. Out of the corner of your eye, you spotted Brown hesitantly eating a few of his own pieces of untouched fruit. Good, you would hate to have to force feed a grown man.

  
You barely noticed that slowly, over the passing days, you’d basically taken Brown under your wing. It was almost like having another kid, except you would never consider Brown a child, and never one of your own. Still, you couldn’t stop the nurturer inside you from taking care of everyone close to you, no matter how apathetic or uncaring you wanted to seem.

  
Your meals done, you bid farewell to Black and Green. As you went to dispose of your meals, you missed the stare down between Brown and Black, ending with a barely noticeable shake of Brown's head. 

  
As you left with your motley team, you missed the intense gaze of Black on your back. If you did, you would have felt the searing, watchful quality of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot purple existed :I


	6. A long day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day is long, your emotions are shot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another long chapter! The longest yet! I worked hard and spent a lot of time thinking this one through, so I hope its to everyones likings.
> 
> And with this chapter, we've reached the 10k words mark (」ﾟﾛﾟ)｣ congratulations to us! This is officially my longest fic ever, I feel accomplished and happy.

Your kid was getting hungry again, and not just hungry for regular food. You could tell in their stance, the awkward way they stood beside you and curled their arms around their middle. Every small fidget and twitch. You were concerned, the first feed had been lucky, and there was no raw meat on board to substitute. Eventually one of your crew mates was going to have to die, and most likely it would be your partner, Brown.

  
You would hate for that to happen. Brown was kind, sweet, and helpful when he could be. You didn’t want someone as wholesome as Brown to die. There was little you could do in this situation, you wouldn’t sacrificed your boy, and you didn’t want your partner to get hurt. You would have to figure something out, wait for an opening. 

  
Luckily for you, an opportunity presented itself that morning in the form of an emergency meeting, called by the protocol man himself; Red.

  
The teams assembled in the cafeteria, and you got to watch them all enter, as you’d been in the cafeteria beforehand with your breakfast. You watched as Red scrutinized each team individually, and you felt the tension in the room rise. No one new was dead, so it had to be for something else.

  
“Thank you all for coming,” Pfft. Red was so solemn and serious, it made these meetings almost amusing. You were a crew, there was no need for starting these things like this, in your opinion. “We are gathered here today for an important teams update: I’m rotating everyone.”

  
Silence met his declaration, and you couldn’t tell if it was in confusion or surprise. Looking back on you team building exercises from the academy, this move made sense. To help promote a more fluid crew, one must switch teams every so often. You just hadn’t expected it this early. 

  
“To promote teamwork, I’m going to be reassigning teams based on low compatibility,” Red paused, a few grumbled were heard around the table, “I know this will be difficult, but please try to bear it and get along. It is imperative that we work as a unit to help weed out the impostors.”

  
Nobody was going to like this, you knew. And with one team being a team of three, it was going to be interested.

  
Red brought his tablet to the forefront as he claimed everyone’s attention once more. “The teams will be as follows: Yellow and Brown, and Orange and Green. Our team of three will be Black, Pink, and Blue, and Purple will be with myself. That is all.” Tucking his tablet away under his arms, he clapped his hands together.

“Please form your new teams and get along! Meeting adjourned.”

  
This would definitely not last the week. A few days, maybe. Red was crazy for putting you with Blue, but at least you had Black as a buffer. 

  
Although, you hadn’t spoken to Black in so long. You wondered if you still shared that sliver of compatibility. You would hate for your team to be two against one. 

  
At least Brown got paired with Yellow. Yellow was definitely someone you could rely on to have Brown's back for things he didn’t understand. You knew that pairing at least was only made due to a lack of contact between the two, though you wondered about Orange and Green. Did they not like each other? You decided to keep an eye out for signs of that.

  
You stood from the circular cafeteria table and approached Brown, who was currently standing by himself while Yellow lectured Orange. From what you could hear, she was telling him a long list of things that would happen if he didn’t behave. You chuckled- how they weren't married, you'd never know.

  
You clapped Brown on the arm, while little Pink clutched at the material by your hip. You could practically feel your little one's anxiety. “It was great working with you, Brown! If you need anything don’t hesitate to find us.” Brown nodded, and his body screamed hesitant.

  
“Yellow's a good person, she can help you with what you need as well. Hopefully we'll see each other around!” on impulse, you pulled Brown forward for a quick side hug. He was frozen for a moment, but then nodded again and patted your arm gently.

You were going to miss him.

  
Yellow came to collect Brown, and you quickly expressed your happiness by giving her a small hug as well. With a quick mention to watch each others backs, you turned and were off to your own new team.

  
Even from several feet away, you could feel the tension coming off the two others in your team. They weren’t looking at each other, and as you approached, only Black glanced in your direction. Timidly, you greeted them.

  
No response from Blue, as was expected, but Black greeted you back casually, and that was enough to settle your nerves. Finally a little more comfortable, you set out to see your trio's task list. Blue had electrical, Black had to do garbage disposal, and you had Med bay. All relatively easy stuff, no doubt you could get it done before lunch, though afterwards you don’t know what you would do with your team.

  
Maybe you should make the tasks last as long as possible…just to avoid the awkward hours of the day when there was nothing to do. With Brown it'd been easy, you'd gotten along, and he and your kid had also gotten along. Now, with this undercurrent of hostility, you weren’t sure how open they would be to games or spending unprofessional time together. 

  
Still, you steeled your spine and took control of the group. Of course, Blue grumbled and complained about being bossed around, but with a skill called selective hearing, you ignored him well enough. This, you felt, would be a common theme. 

  
The three of you, plus your baby, found yourselves in electrical first. This was the room everyone on board hated, and you didn’t blame them. It was dark, and the metal floors somehow sounded more ominous here than on anywhere else in the ship. While here, you ran into Red and Purple.

  
It seems they were in the middle of diverting power, but you could tell Red was just starting a long winded speech about proper division methods. From eavesdropping from across the room, you gathered Purple hadn’t don’t it like Red wanted. Poor Purple, being stuck with the most efficient member. Hopefully Purple could help Red loosen up a bit. 

  
As Blue did his tasks, you crouched beside your kid and silently played a game with the spare wire parts laying around. This distracted Thomas enough for him to finally sit still for a few minutes, for which you were thankful. You were definitely worried about your little boy, as always. 

  
Black stood, watchful, as he leaned against the wall near the door. It almost felt like he was waiting for something, and that put you on edge a bit.

  
Once Blue was done, which he announced to you by repeatedly clearing his throat in an obnoxious manner, you traveled through the halls to med bay for your own tasks, though you did stop occasionally for Black to do his. You quickly did your scan, and set about organizing the samples to get them done as fast as you could. Black took his place by the door again, and for some reason that didn’t comfort you. You felt a ball of dread form in the pit of your stomach.

  
Blue, oblivious to your feelings, sat on one of the med beds. He didn’t care for much, and in fact, spent a lot of the time complaining about the other crew mates, and of course, your child.

  
At one point it was so obnoxious and infuriating, you couldn’t help but whirl towards him and give him a small dressing down. “Listen Blue, I know you hate this. I hate this. But complaining and insulting our crew isn't going to do anything,” you took a threatening step towards him, pointing your finger for emphasis. “If you say one more word about my boy again, I’m going to stuff you in a garbage chute.”

  
With that, silence descended once more and you continued your work. Poor Thomas clung to you like his little life depended on it, trying to wedge himself between your legs and the counter so he was out of sight from Blue.

  
You were angry and frustrated. Black was silent. You had to convince yourself not to turn on him next. 

  
Usually it was difficult for you to reach this point of frustration, and if it weren't for your helmet you would be pulling out your hair from the stress. Your anger was always hard for you to control, so it was an emotion you tried to avoid at all costs, but with Blue being Blue, you couldn’t help the small growl of frustration in the back of your throat.

  
Which actually, may have lead to the next sequence of events. 

  
You growled as best a human could, because you were just so mad and you couldn’t control it. Dumb Blue for insulting your friends and family. Damn him.

  
But apparently, this sounds from you was something of a trigger for your child, and surprisingly, Black. 

  
You noticed instantly that they'd both stiffened, and before you could probably express your worry, Thomas was gone from between you and the counter, though you could see Black holding himself stiffly by the open door. Like a tall, dark statue.

  
Before you had time to react, blood covered the med bay in a spray only a human body could produce. By the time you turned, Blue was but a pair of legs on the ground, and your child was purring happily. You stumbled back a bit, knocking a sample to the ground as you did so. 

  
The sound of glass shattering on the ground brought Black out from his frozen stupor, and a hysterical sound escaped you. Your boy was back beside you, cuddling up to your side, but you had eyes only for Black.

  
In turn, Black’s first response was to close and lock the door. You gripped Thomas and moved him slightly behind you, just in case. Your mouth flapped open and closed as you tried to find words. A way, any way to explain what just happened. A way to make Black keep his mouth shut about this.

  
Little did you know, that wasn’t what was going to happen.

  
Black approached you from his spot by the door, taking the few steps necessary to box you in, and trap Thomas behind you. If push came to shove, you would defend him with your life. 

  
To your surprise, Black laughed.

  
And laughed.

  
…And laughed.

  
It went on for so long, you almost thought he was going to start crying. Instead, it turned dark, and you could see the glow of something behind his mask. Eyes? But there were too many, you thought hysterically.

  
And intrusive memory entered your mind, and for some reason you thought of how close you and Black had been near the start of this mission. How nice it had been to talk to someone without worry. Now, you weren’t so sure.

  
Eventually, Black calmed himself and stared at you. After a few moments, he started to speak. “You…it was you who killed White, wasn't it?” 

  
You gulped, your throat feeling too moist and too dry all at the same time. 

  
“It's alright, I’m just surprised is all,” his shoulders shook, you shrunk in on yourself a little more, “It's just, we never thought one of our own young would be doing our job for us.”

  
His tone was of dark amusement, but your brain stalled. Job? Young? Their young? 

  
The realization hit you hard and fast, Black was an impostor. Black had been the one to sabotage the power all that time ago.

From the way he spoke, there was at least one other one board.

  
You were suddenly afraid, but for some reason, not for your life. You were scared for Thomas. You were scared to lose him.

  
You still couldn’t bring yourself to speak, so Black continued his monologue. 

  
“This works in our favour. How about this, Pink? We pretend we were out doing my tasks, and that Blue was complaining of a headache so he came here to check for drugs. You and I saw nothing, and only came to check on him when my tasks were over. If no one finds his remains first, that is.”

  
You swallowed, nodding slowly. Black was coming up with an alibi. You could work with that. You were scared, and anxious, but you could work with this. It all came down to your adaptability.

  
Black clapped his hands loudly together, before holding his hand out for you and Thomas. You hesitant, but included closer eventually to take his hand. It was a lot warmer than you were expecting, and the heat grounded you in this moment, like having a hot cup or coffee in your hands.

  
Eventually, hesitantly, you spoke. “If…if you're one of them, why not just kill me right now and get it over with?”

  
Black squeezed your hand as he lead you closer to the med bay doors, “That would make me even more suspicious. Plus, I like you. You’re taking care of one of our own.”

  
As soon as you were out the med bay doors, the space quickened to the point you were almost stumbling. Black checked around every corner, looked at everything camera to make sure no one was watching as you made your way to the cafeteria.

Behind you both, Thomas had no trouble in keeping up. “I do have one question though. Why are you taking care of the kid, knowing what you know?”

  
The question startled you out of your mind. Clearing your throat, you didn’t even have to think of an answer, “He’s just a kid. He’s cute, and precious, and doesn’t deserve the fate humans would put upon him.” As you spoke, you got quieter and quieter. It was true, you realized.

  
you loved Thomas, you knew that. Whether he was a small impostor or not, you wouldn’t give him up. You would try to provide the best childhood you could for him, species be damned. 

  
Even if it meant betraying your race.

  
You shared this with Black, and he chuckled again in that dark way, muttering about strange humans. 

  
“But wait,” you said, “who’s the other one?”

  
“Brown.” Black said with surety, “but he's soft. He’s scared to kill. He doesn’t have the verbal ability to defend himself- it's why he was put on this mission with me.”

  
Brown.

  
Sweet, kind, Brown. He was the second impostor, which in hindsight, made sense. The realization still made your ears ring.

“Oh.”

  
The rest of the hour was spent in silence. You both returned to med bay, and after that, called the emergency meeting.

  
Red was not amused, at first. You could almost hear his voice in your head, saying emergency meetings were for emergencies.

  
A dead body was am emergency.

  
“Blue is dead,” you burst out, letting your feelings from the past hour and a bit colour your voice. “He went to med bay to get headache medicine while Black and I did tasks in storage, we didn’t find him until we went to check if he was alright.” You wrung your hands, praying everyone would believe you. Black, in a fake show of support, drew you into his side.

  
Everyone erupted in panicked speech at once. People yelling over each other to be heard. No one was making much sense, but all of them seemed to be pointing fingers. Most, at their partners.

  
You supposed with the team change, it made everyone aggravated. Apparently, everyone hadn't stayed with their partner the whole time, with the exception of Yellow and Brown. This, you thought, was a good example of why Red shouldn’t have changed the teams.

  
Red, in turn, slammed the emergency meeting button. The loud blaring in everyone’s comm system instantly quieted the table.

  
He said one word. “Report.”

  
Going around the table, everyone reported their daily activities. You didn’t gloss over the fight to had with Blue, knowing every detail was important, but you did fit the timeline to your lie. You held tightly on to Black's hand as you spoke.

  
The lie was bought, thankfully, and Red adjourned the meeting with and insistence that everyone stay with at least one buddy. He needed to think, he said, and if anyone needed him, he would either be in security or admin.

  
With that, everyone dispersed either to finish their tasks or mingle in the cafeteria. You yourself found a spot at a table sitting with Thomas in your lap, and Black at your side. Across from you, Brown and Yellow sat for a chat.

  
You clunked your forehead against the back of Thomas’ helmet.

  
What a day.

  
And you didn’t even get to bring up your Christmas ideas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love you all <3 thanks for reading!


	7. Christmas 2 and the talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You sit and talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, I got this typed up and ready. I got a new phone so it was a bit delayed in all the excitement.
> 
> Also! Wow!! We've hit over a hundred subs and over 2000 hits! Amazing! Thanks for the support, love you all <3

The next day, Red declared the groups disbanded indefinitely, but impressed upon the importance of staying in groups and staying safe. With this in effect, and two crew members dead, you found the rest of the living crew occupying the same table, sans Red, who had holed himself up in security again until further notice. 

  
This left you with no time to talk to Brown and Black alone, but you did get to know Purple better, at least. Apparently he had kids of his own at home on Earth, with his wife and in-laws. He showed you pictures that he kept tucked away in a chest pocket that looked hand sewn, and in return you told him of all the games and silly things your little Pink liked to do. Between the two of you, you had the rest of the table (mainly Orange, Yellow, and Green) enthralled. It was a pretty enjoyable morning, and eventually you were able to pass Thomas off to Brown, who took him across the cafeteria for a juice box.

  
While they were gone, you quickly changed topics and started a small huddle. This was your chance. With Christmas less than a week away, you had to seize what opportunity you could go provide this moment for your boy. It would be his first human Christmas, after all.

  
Your group quickly agreed with you, and planning begun. You managed to slip in the fact that Green's suit was the colour of a Christmas tree, and he took your hint with amused understanding. You had faith in Green for this. A walking, talking, Christmas tree. 

  
Throughout this quick delegation of ideas, you noticed Black was strangely silent. With a jolt, you realized it would be his first human holiday as well. Or at least, he gave you that impression. Then, you remembered Brown too. A ball of warmth formed in your chest at the thought of providing so many people with such happy memories. You’d have to figure out what gifts to get them all, and go around in secret, but perhaps Yellow could help you with that. If she agreed to buddy up with you, you could leave your baby with someone trustworthy and finish this quick quest of yours. 

  
Not Red though. Red was pretty suspicious, being separate from the group at a time like this. He'd also cancelled tasks until tomorrow, to give us time to ‘grieve’.

Something he hadn’t done with White, but you supposed Red and Blue have been hanging out since the beginning.

At this point though, being a long time expeditionist and not having been killed yet, you felt desensitized to the death of people you weren't close to. To you, this just felt like any other day, just with one less member and more tasks for everyone to cover.

  
Thinking back on it, now you were glad to have taught Brown some basic tasks. It would be a huge help, and now that you knew of his impostor status, would be useful in covering up any suspicions people had about him. No matter what you would vouch for Brown.

  
Black, on the other hand…

  
Well, he was obviously more experienced. More dangerous. Despite your quick friendship in the beginning, the wrench of his quick personality change and the fact that he was the other impostor was holding you back from fully trusting him yet. You really needed to have that talk with the two of them.

  
Surely they could give you tips on caring for their young as well. You really didn’t want anyone else to perish at the hands of your small child.

  
You were brought back to the present when Brown brought your child back with his juice. They were holding hands, and Thomas' little helmet was lifted just so so he could drink it. Their image was a true delight to your heart.

  
At the same time as this, your friendly companions got up. Orange, Green, Yellow, and Purple mentioned they were going to check on Red and find something fun to do. Yellow gave you the impression she was winking at you at the way her helmet was tilting, but you couldn’t possible know for what. Was this code for them trying to find Christmas decorations? Only time would tell.

  
So in the end, it was you, your boy, Brown, and Black, sitting at a table in the Cafeteria.

You had Thomas tucked into your side, with Black across from you. Brown hasn’t sat down yet, as if deciding who he wanted to sit beside was a struggle. In the end, he didn’t have time to sit as Black declared, “She knows about us.”

  
Brown was so visibly startled that he took a couple steps back. Those glowing eyes you'd seem on Black appeared briefly through his mask, but soon disappeared again. Did they have trouble controlling their forms with emotion? Thomas hadn't had any extreme emotions as far as you could tell. He hadn't changed forms at all since you found him, aside from you discovering his chest mouth.

  
Brown was further startled by Black's next statement, “The child is one of ours.”

  
A series of quick clicks and growls came from Brown. Was that their language? Even Thomas seemed to perk up at hearing it, and he chittered back for a second. This seemed to seal the deal for Brown and he took a quick seat beside Thomas. They continued to hold a small conversation, you and Black watching from the sidelines.

  
The only thing was, you were the only one at this table that didn’t understand.

  
Not that that bothered you. People spoke in languages around you all the time. You grew up in one of the most diverse human cities on earth.

  
Across from you, Black chuckled, and the other two fell silent. It was time for that chat.

  
Black folded his hands in front of him and leaned forward slightly, prompting both you and Brown to do the same. Thomas, oblivious to the atmosphere, took off his crown of Christmas lights and began playing with the small pointy bulbs.

  
“So, your son's an impostor, and now you know about Brown and myself.

  
The question is, why? Why does a human have an impostor child?” you fidgeted your fingers briefly, thinking of your answer. Why indeed? Admittedly you hadn't known about your child’s species at first, but you had a soft heart for children. You yourself were unable to have your own, so it made sense that you took liberties to adopt what had essentially been, a free child. 

  
Your mind flashed back to the med bay and your answer to a similar question. This time your mind was clear and there was no panicked haze to go along with it. You could answer this honestly. You could tell them what happened on your last mission.

  
You shifted in preparation, leaning more heavily on your forearms. “It was last my last mission, here on the Skeld. We were facing a similar situation against impostors, and the majority vote was to shoot the suspicious members out of the airlock. 

  
I guess we must have got an actual impostor. His colour was Cyan, and he had this adorable little boy with him. After we ejected Cyan, I took little Cyan, whom I named Thomas, home with me. He couldn’t talk then.” You glanced affectionately at your boy, not that they could tell that for sure.

“Obviously I got attached. He's my son now and that’s all that matters.”

  
Glancing between Black and Brown, who were both listening with rapt attention, you continued, “Originally I was going to try to return him to the next impostor I found, but I can’t. He’s mine.”

  
Black harrumphed, but nodded regardless. “He is your son, he said so himself. You’ve been treating him very well, but…he is not human. He has needs.”

  
You nodded, understanding. Of course Thomas had needs you couldn’t provide for. You were a simple human, and your baby was a complex alien lookalike. “Tell me what he needs and I’ll do my best.”

  
While you were speaking to the both of them, there wasn’t much contribution Brown could do, and so he spend part of his time keeping Thomas occupied, whether with little finger tricks, or that strange, chittering language. Watching them together made you feel wholly warm on the inside. It felt right, your boys together. 

  
However, it was hard to watch them when you were trying to have a serious conversation. You relaxed a little, knowing this situation wasn’t turning towards anything violent. They were impostors, but really, they weren’t so bad. You felt like you knew them.

  
“I’m sure you’ve noticed his…protein needs. Our young require fresh meat- it has something to do with the enzymes and nutrients. It helps us with our adaptability, even as we get older. Human meat is extremely rich in the particular nutrients we need, and eating the brain especially, as it helps us to learn to function as humans.” He paused, and you took this chance to ask a question.

  
“So wait, do you gain the memories of the people you eat?” If so, you’d have to teach Thomas to be nice to women and kids…

  
Black chuckled, “Thank goodness, no. It just helps us develop things like human motor skills, social cues, speech. It’s why Brown here can’t speak human very well. He just hasn’t eaten enough. Luckily we just need less as adults, or this whole crew would be long gone.”

  
You glanced at Brown, and his attention was on you. He nodded to confirm what Black was saying. You wondered if this was just Brown's first mission, or if he was younger than he looked. You didn’t voice it, you would probably find out later. 

  
“Alright, so he needs meat. Or human meat. Okay. Well that hasn’t been a huge issue so far, huh?” you joked lightly. Both Brown and Black chuckled.

  
“Of course, if you need anything or have any questions, you can come to us. We were quite surprised when White died, you know? We thought maybe our home world had assigned a secret impostor to tail us.” You were glad it wasn’t that. You wouldn’t know what to do with so many impostors on board. Hell, you were lucky the ones on this ship were easy to talk to and friendly. You certainly got lucky with this trip.

  
Down one of the hallways, you heard the rabble of the other group approaching once more. You were going to have to cut this short, and you were surprisingly disappointed. You wanted to be educated more in their ways. You wanted to understand your boys actions and culture and personality. 

  
Your throat probably couldn’t handle their language, so that was a no-go for you, but you could sure as hell try to understand everything else. At least you knew now why Thomas got so antsy without meat. Poor baby boy. 

  
As the others came back, this time with Red in tow, you reflected on the conversation. You liked this new, more serious Black, and Brown had always been a sweetheart from the start. 

  
You were happy to know them and looking forward to learning as much as you could in the near future.

  
In particular; what were alien holidays like?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm bad at dialogue but this actually came out pretty nicely, I think. I'm starting to love blacks personality


	8. Fluff Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fluff, and more fluff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys like fluff, and lots of Black & Pink!

It took you a couple days still to finally settle into a new routine surrounding the new crew dynamics. You noticed Orange, Yellow, and Purple hung out often enough, and it seemed Green assigned himself to Red watching. You ended up often together with Brown and Black as a trio, plus your little sidekick. It felt better than normal, like the crew was finally coming together as more than strangers. 

  
In particular, you were able to ask Black all sorts of questions about himself and his race, and he was happy to talk as he swung Thomas by the hand between himself and Brown. Every line of every tile on the floor was treated like something Thomas had to launch himself over, and by the sounds of his giggling, he was enjoying it immensely. 

  
You found out a few things about them; one of those being that impostors came from a very hostile planet not too far from Polus, which is why it was so easy for them to infiltrate the Skeld so often. 

  
Another thing you learned was that impostors didn’t celebrate anything of interest. They had a worship day for their dictator, a name day celebration every decade, and not much else. Black translated that Brown admired the human race for how colourful and creative they were, and you felt a bit bashful. You had, after all, chosen one of the brightest colours since you were fresh out of the academy. You were always Pink, and if you couldn’t be- well, you wouldn’t go. Pink or bust. It was your favourite colour, after all.

  
You also took advantage of Black and Brown for their watchful ability regarding Thomas. Because you wanted to keep Christmas a bit of a secret from them, you asked them to watch your boy every so often so you could organize things. So far, you had a small party planned, Green had agreed to become a Christmas tree, and Red had, surprisingly, procured a white beard to play along as well. This was, all in all, excellent.

  
The closer it got to the big day, the livelier the crew seemed to get. Yellow and Orange were frequently teaming up to play harmless pranks, and they gossiped far more than before. It wasn’t uncommon to see Yellow dragging you aside to give you some juicy tidbit about Purple and his love life, or to tell you a story about a weird thing she saw Red doing.

  
Apparently Red was really odd. He was a very by the book individual, and he even carried the old textbook you remember using in your academy days. 'The Crewmate's Guide to a Successful Mission’, or something like that. Poor Red. He probably didn’t have very many friends.

  
But, he was keeping the majority of the crew organized and on task, so at least there’s that. It was a good motivator to do well when it felt like you had someone breathing down your neck.

  
So, with tasks going smoothly, and with the crew working together at last, you were able to slip away and take part in some janky Arts and crafts. 

  
You really wanted to do something nice for your boy, and in the end, you’d ended up raiding electrical with Purple for spare wires and small pieces of metal. You checked storage as well, of course, but for the purpose of your gift to Thomas, you endeavoured for the best quality small things you could find.

  
You were going to make Thomas a flower crown- a very rough, very basic flower crown. It would be made from leftover colourful wires, and somehow you were going to manage to attach the petals of thin silver and copper. Hopefully he would love it, as you really didn’t have much else on hand to work with. 

  
So here you were, sitting on the floor of electrical, your back to a corner hidden in the depths of the room. You were struggling with keeping the small pieces of metal in place, but thankfully the wires were easy enough to tie together.

  
You’d never been much of a crafts person, yet here you were, doing whatever you could for the small ball of pink sunshine you called your own. Was this how all parents felt? According to your impressions of Purple, probably.

  
Your eyes turned up at the sound of small scraping coming from the corner across from where you were sitting. Conveniently, this was also where the vent in electrical was located. You'd heard many a horror story of people being snuck up on by impostors here- and that one rare story that it was a human serial killer. 

  
Thankfully, the impostors on this ship weren’t hostile to you. However, you still weren’t expecting for Black's helmet to pop out of the vent before the rest of his body. You never would have guessed the vents were big enough to fit someone of Black's size- but then again, you did notice some odd contortions around his elbows and shoulders, so maybe they weren’t. Still, you waved him over as he hoisted himself out, and you hoped he could feel the warmth in your presence.

  
“Black! What’re you doing here? You’re going to get caught if you keep doing that.” he tilted his head at you, but sat across from you nonetheless, his back to the vent. 

  
“Hey, Pink. I think the better question is- what are _you_ doing here? You’ve been missing for hours.” You felt slightly scolded, but you huffed and gestured towards the task you’d set for yourself. 

  
“I’m making a present for Thomas, but I can’t seem to get the material to bend right. I only have a couple days left before Christmas and I need to get this done. Is Brown okay?” you’d originally left Thomas with the both of them, but you supposed now Black was here, Thomas was alone with Brown.

  
“Brown is fine.” Black heaved a sigh and leaned his elbows on his knees, taking a closer look at the pieces, “What’s it supposed to be?”

  
“A flower crown. Like the lights we're wearing now, but flowers.”

  
“You say that like I know what a flower looks like.” You blinked at Black. They….didn’t know what flowers looked like? 

  
Well, one more thing for you to show them. “I can show you a rough idea, but it’s probably not going to be very pretty.” 

  
You assembled a few of the mock petals in a five-petal pattern, leaving a wire underneath it to act as a stem. It was flat on the ground and wobbly, but it looked pretty much what you imagined with your artistic ability. “Ta-daa, a flower.”

  
Black inspected the thing carefully, helm tilting this way and that. Finally, he settled back a bit and said, “I like it. I’m sure Earth is very beautiful.” 

  
You nodded in response. Earth was very pretty, with its autumn leaves and abundance of flowers. If you could, you would love to show Brown and Black the tulip fields in the Netherlands. The one time you’d went, it’d been truly awe inspiring.

  
Perhaps you could make enough flowers for the entire crew, maybe one each with coordinating coloured stems, plus your flower crown for Thomas. You could make this work.

  
Suddenly, you had an idea.

  
Looking bashfully at Black, you said, “You could help me you know. Make these, I mean. A pair of extra hands to hold everything together would be amazing.”

  
Black paused, studying you. You weren’t sure what he saw in your blank pink helmet, but he nodded and shoved his hands out. “I might not be able to do delicate work, but I can hold things in place.” 

  
Feeling a bit giddy and shy, you clapped your hands together. Picking up the pieces you just put down as an example of a flower, you started by delicately winding some wire around one end of the stem. After you did that, you handed the stem to Black. “Thank you! Just hold this and I’ll do the rest.” 

  
As you worked, you realized it really was twice as fast to have Black here holding things. He was quiet, and you thought you felt his gaze on you multiple times. You did your best to ignore the sudden charge in the air. It was like feeling as if the silence was going to swallow you up, so you started humming nonsense as you worked.

  
You got five flowers done this way before Black spoke again. To your embarrassment, it was about you. “You have a nice voice. What is that?”

  
You fumbled a bit and your breath caught in your throat, but you managed to answer him in a decent manner, “Nothing in particular. Just filling the silence, I do it all the time at home when I’m cooking…”

  
Black cocked his head to the side, “The fact that humans cook their meals has always struck me as odd. Don’t you get more nutritional value out of raw foods?”

  
You brought your hand up to your mouth to cover your giggle, forgetting for a moment there was a helmet in the way. “Right. Well be that as it may, humans can’t digest a lot of raw foods. Veggies for sure, and some fish is good raw, but we usually always have to cook our meats or we could get sick and die.” 

  
Black seemed startled at the thought. It was kind of funny, watching him twitch back like that, however he did just drop the flower the two of you had been working on. Picking it up, you handed it back to him. “Don’t look so shocked! It’s just human things. I’m sure there’s a ton of other stuff that’s probably more shocking.” 

  
Black came back to himself slightly, “It’s not that…it’s just, you humans are so fragile. You can die in so many ways so easily. Even your own bodies will kill you sometimes. Aren’t you always afraid?”

  
You hummed as you wrapped the petals of another flower. “Not really? We humans tend to take life as it comes. Good things happen, bad things happen. Despite this, the end destination is always the same- death.

  
So I think in a way, humans are used to it; Desensitized to our own demise. It’s not so bad, just the way life is, and a lot of people would rather just focus on the good while it lasts.”

  
After that, Black was silent for a long time, keeping still as best he could for you. You appreciated it as you thought over the conversation in your head. You built flowers on autopilot as you thought, despite probably having more than enough now.

  
Black’s concerns…just how hardy were impostors? How long did they live, and what kind of ailments could they catch? Were they so afraid of their own deaths? 

  
The day was turning into something rather philosophical. You could also ask Black, but he was so silent you didn’t want to disturb his thoughts. You mind was whirling with implications and ideas. Was it possible impostors didn’t get sick? 

  
As you attached the last petal to the last wire, you took in the mess around you. It was cleaner than before, having used all the spare parts, and you had all flowers you needed except for one…you would need to search a little longer to find a spare black wire.

  
Black stood and turned towards the vent, looking down at you from over his shoulder. “This has been enlightening, Pink. Don’t take too much longer, the little one missed you.” 

  
And before you could reply, he practically slithered in an odd shimmy down the vent. You watched it fascinated horror as he left in this way- you could safely say that if he had any human bones, he would be severely uncomfortable. You would have to ask how he did that later.

  
Looking back down to your lap, you finished up the crown you were making, simply looping them all together and making sure the flowers would stay. After that, you collected the extras and dug around a bit behind you. Giving a small triumphant sigh, you set about making the last flower, this one slightly different than the others.

  
Once finished, you slipped them away in a loose floor panel. It wouldn’t do for anyone to find them yet, after all. 

  
It was time to rejoin your boys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Literally you all are my favourite people. This would not be possible without you all, thank you for your support for this story! Love you all 🥰


	9. Christmas!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas is here, and the morning is beautiful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeyyyyy, while writing this chapter I listened to this playlist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-c1rU5B63o. It really helped me with my flow :D I felt a bit of a block this morning haa, but it's sorted now >:)
> 
> Enjoy a fluffy christmas this Halloween season

The day was finally here. Christmas.

  
You woke early that day with Green, partly to get your gifts organized, and partly to help tape little paper decorations to his suit.

  
You tucked Thomas in closely to Brown before you left, quietly clunking your helmet to his smaller one. He barely stirred, though Brown did give you a thumbs up as you left. You returned the gesture and went on your way, following after Green down the hallway.

  
As you placed decorations on the different parts of Green's suit, your mind drifted to the day before, when you’d sat everyone down (Red included), and had them help with decorations and the small things that were now attached to Green. He was covered in little paper stars, bulb ornaments, Santa hats, and snowmen. You’d also had Thomas cut out the final touch, a Star to rest on Green’s forehead above his visor.

  
Almost all of the decorations were made of paper. You had paper chains and snowflakes everywhere, made with some plain white paper you’d found in admin. There was no knowing how long it’d been there, as mostly everyone was digital nowadays.

  
You patted Green on the shoulder, “Thanks for this.” 

  
Green struck a pose in all his Christmas Tree glory, “It’s no problem, Pink! Any time! This is fun, definitely a story to tell future crews.”

  
You nodded in agreement. “Right! Anyway, I’ll be back. I need to grab the gifts I made.”

  
You didn’t spoil the fact that you’d made something for everyone. The crew had agreed as a whole not to do too much for this small celebration, as it was mostly for your little one, but you were hoping to raise morale a bit on the Skeld. It was a good distraction from the ones that were missing, for those who might grieve.

  
Collecting your bouquet of gifts, plus the flower crown for Thomas didn’t take long, and so you put some thought into the setup. There were a lot of ways you could do this, but you decided on something simple.

  
You decided to get breakfast ready for everyone. It wasn’t every day that you ate together all at once, but today was an exception. As you got everything ready, you set everyone’s flowers down at the placement they usually took. Yellow between Purple and Orange, Red across from Green, who sat beside Black, who usually sat across from you, with Brown on one side of you and little Pink on the other. 

  
You gazed down at the flowers and felt all at once excited and anxious. You knew everyone would be pleasantly surprised at least, but this was also something you had made with your bare hands (and Black), so you were more than a little nervous on what they would think.

  
You were also almost regretting making Black’s flower slightly more complicated. Instead of making a simple five petal flower, you'd attempted something more layered, like a rose. It wasn’t perfect, but it turned out alright for having no reference except for you memory. 

  
But what would the others think of that? You would just have to tell them he helped you make them, and you wanted to thank him for that.  
Why did you care so much what everyone thought anyway? It was just a gift.

  
You returned to the bunk room and nudged Brown. You couldn’t tell if he was awake, but you hated waking people up and Green was busy doing a few tasks before breakfast. Brown woke up easily enough, moving carefully to support Thomas as they both sat up for the day. After them, you moved to Black and nudged him as well, and from there they helped you get everyone up. 

  
They all woke relatively easy, and you pretended not to notice the way Red jumped awake after you nudged him. You hoped he wasn’t having trouble sleeping.

  
Everyone stumbled into the cafeteria in a large group, bumping and grumbling as you went. You were guiding Thomas with a hand on his back, Black in front of you and Brown hanging around your left shoulder. 

  
When you got there, Green was standing in the middle of the large room, posing in a typical tree pose. There was excited chatter as people greeted Green and he helped you coordinate everyone to their seats.

  
As you sat, you cleared your throat to get the crews attention. A few had picked up their flowers, examining them. Yellow had already tucked hers into the strap of her suit's support bag, and the sight warmed your heart and gave you confidence.

  
“I’d like to thank everyone for making this possible. I know we're far from home, away from our families and friends, and I’m grateful to have met you all and that we could share this holiday together. Merry Christmas everyone.” 

  
You lifted your helmet's visor, your full face visible for the first time to your crewmates. A bright smile was spread across your lips, and your eyes sparkled in joy as you invited everyone to dig into the usual rations allotted for breakfast. You placed the cute crown on Thomas's head, and he wiggled in excitement at the new hat. “I made the flowers myself from spare parts in electrical. I hope I didn’t worry anyone too much while I was busy.” 

  
Yellow chattered in excitement at the gift, saying she'd never had anything like it before. At this point, everyone was comfortably lifting their masks to eat, and you even got a good look at Black’s face, and Brown’s profile.

  
They were both strangely handsome, which you supposed was the point. Black had high cheekbones, and a sharp, angular face that looked like it belonged on the cover of a magazine. Brown, on the other hand, was a bit softer around the edges, with larger eyes and a more rounded nose. Funnily enough, they both had hair corresponding to their colours. 

  
Their eyes, interestingly enough, were dark black, and your mind flashed back to those few terrifying moments where you’d seen a hint of multiple eyes. How did they hide it, you wondered.

  
Someone nudged your foot, and you started a bit to realize you’d been staring across the table at Black for a little too long. His eyes rested intently on yours as his head tilted towards your food, a small smirk curving his lips. The bastard knew he was handsome.

  
You settled for fighting off the heat that had risen to your cheeks, hiding your face a bit as you ate. It was just your luck, developing a crush on Black. What was your heart thinking?

  
The rest of breakfast passed in companionable silence, being broken every so often for chats or people getting up to get more coffee. Mornings usually were the most quiet part of the day.

  
After eating, you had Thomas turn so that he was facing the room, and you, as you crouched in front of him. You wanted to arrange his hats so he could wear them both at the same time, and you hoped it would look as nice as the idea seemed in your head.

  
Putting his both his visor and your own down into their proper places, you took both Thomas’ hats and made it so they weaved together in a simple way. It made the lights reflect off the flowers prettily, and you placed it back on his head. It was perfect, and your baby was adorable. He fiddled with it for a moment, trying to see it from where it sat atop his head, but he gave up soon enough when he realized he couldn’t. Instead, you found yourself with tiny arms around you, “Thank you mama, I love it!” 

  
It was the most words your son had ever said to you, and you nearly squealed aloud. “Of course, my baby boy! I love you!”

  
You held him to you for a moment, before standing. Thomas clung tightly to your neck and laughed at being picked up, and you waved to everyone else still at the table. “Please do as you like with the flowers! Thank you all again!”

  
In return, everyone mumbled their thanks as well, and got ready to leave to do their tasks for the day. Red allowed that they could run holiday tunes over the comms channel that day, and as you went about your own tasks, you couldn’t help but hum and sing them to yourself. 

  
At some point you had to release your son from your grasp, so you did. Today you were diverting power to weapons, to destroy some asteroids that were straying a bit to close for comfort. For your company that day, Brown was following you to learn more about this system.

  
You'd nearly forgotten Brown was also an impostor, but the fact that he didn’t actually have any formal training for these things brought that fact to the forefront. As you taught him, you watched as he grasped the flower you’d made every so often. He’s wrapped the wire part around his wrist and had somehow managed to tie it off, and now it was an artful bracelet. It looked good, and you planned on asking him for help on doing the same for the one you’d made yourself as well. “I take it you like the flower, then?”

  
Brown nodded vigorously for a moment, touching your arm as he did. Ah, what a sweetheart he was.

  
“Can you do that to mine, too? I like the bracelet.” He nodded and gestured for your hand. You brought your flower out of your pocket and held it by your opposite write, the left one. Instead of using his fingers to tie it, a few tiny tendrils came from his wrist and tied the wires together. It was startling, but extremely fascinating to watch. You supposed Brown was the less experienced impostor, and therefore might have less control of his human functions. Still, it felt special that he’d shown this to you. “Thank you! I love it.” It was tied perfectly to not be too loose, nor too tight. Excellent for the work you did on a daily basis.

  
You continued on in your tasks, keeping a small stream of chatter to fill the silence between you and Brown. Every so often he would have a small conversation with your boy in their odd language, and you politely stayed silent during those times. You felt a bit bad for Brown for not being able to talk to anyone, so having Thomas there was a nice balm to that feeling.

  
After your tasks were done, you wandered to find Red. You had a couple questions for him regarding your route on the way to Polus, and from experience you knew it wouldn’t be too much longer, but the asteroids earlier had been many more than you were used to on the Skeld, and you were briefly worried that you could be off course.

  
You were distracted from this however, when the power went out.

  
Black?

  
The alarm blared and you rushed to electrical, which wasn’t very far from where you were. When you got there, Black was standing in the door and gazing in, his body language screaming tense. As you stood on your tip toes to look over his shoulder, you found you couldn’t see anything. You nudged him aside, ignoring his quiet words.

  
You used the let from your hat and flashlight to gaze at the wires and breakers responsible for keeping the lights on, flipping a few things as you went.

  
The alarm stopped, but the lights didn’t come back on. Following that, you tried to do divert more power to them, but to no luck.

  
A louder, different alarm blared. This one was unfamiliar to you, and you gazed at Black in confusion. Was he not the one to sabotage the lights? 

  
He was turned towards the hallway, his back and shoulders still tense, his legs spread and ready to either flee or fight. Still clinging by his legs, Thomas looked between you and Black, as if unsure what to do. You beckoned him over and wrapped him in your arms.

  
This was when Orange burst past Black, he was obviously panicking with the way his chest was heaving, and you held your breath as he caught his.

  
“It’s Red- he- he said we're about to crash! It’s not Polus! It's not Polus!” Orange spent a moment flailing his hands in front of his face, and he sunk to his knees slowly. He still hasn’t caught his breath and you were starting to worry for him.

  
Not Polus? Then where? There were no other planets on the course to Polus, so what was happening. You shared a glance with Black and stood abruptly, intent to find Red in the madness, the dark of the hallway taunting you from the open doorway.

  
You handed Thomas to Black, and made your way to navigation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hhuheheuhheh


	10. Planetside

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You crash and wake up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't leave you all in suspense, so here's the next chapter!
> 
> This also marks the tenth chapter, and also the longest! I have no idea where these words came from, but enjoy :''') I hope I did it justice

You didn’t make it to navigation.

  
Something hit the ship and the world tilted dangerously to the left; you lost your balance, but before you could hit the floor that used to be the wall, you were tackled from behind.

  
Out of the corner of your eye, you spotted the colour brown. Brown. He clung tightly to you as the ship tilted again, further left, and your helmet was tucked safely to his chest. He was oddly soft underneath you.

  
He was protecting you.

  
Whatever was happening now, you at least had a companion. If you got lost or passed out, you could trust Brown with your life. 

  
The Skeld was unstable, and another impact shook the ship. There was an explosion from the direction of storage, and you’d desperately hoped no one was in that part of the ship. Tightening your arms around Brown, you could only think of Thomas. Your boy was behind you, in electrical with Black. You could trust Black, right? Nothing had been wrong with the lights, no sabotage, only crash protocols.

  
It soothed your mind to know Black was nearly a giant. He could probably wrap his whole body around Thomas and your baby boy wouldn’t have a scratch. This would be fine. 

  
If only you could speak to Red to see what was going on. You knew he knew something, and despite it being Christmas, everything was suddenly going extremely horribly wrong. Did Red change the course? Did MIRA change the course? Where would you end up?

  
You didn’t have time to think further as you suddenly suspended in mid air. The Skeld's gravity was malfunctioning, and you and Brown were now floating in each other’s arms, the ship's hallway spinning around you dizzily. Bumping into the wall sent you back towards the opposite wall, and the ship played a sick game of pinball with your bodies as you floated uncontrollably.

  
Sounds continued to explode around you as you tried to tuck further into Brown, with him doing the same. The ship was entering some sort of atmosphere, you knew this because alarms were still blaring, and an automated message was now playing. Through the thick, insulated ship walls, you felt the heat as the ship descended.

  
Your position definitely wasn’t safe, but your suit was built for emergencies. The helmet would hold against most impacts, and the suit itself had just the right amount of cushioning. You hoped this would be enough to save you. You just prayed that wherever you were landing, it would be soft enough that you would live.

  
The gravity flung you to the floor now that you were in an atmosphere with gravity, you and Brown dropped dangerously down the hallway, and you landed in a pile. Your head jarred violently, and the world went dark.

* * *

  
When you woke, it was to complete darkness. You’d lost your Christmas light crown in the commotion, and even the emergency lights of the Skeld were deactivated. You were truly without power.

  
Sitting up, you realized you'd landed on something soft despite the roughness of the situation. Looking down groggily, you realized it was Brown that was lying underneath you. He'd cushioned your fall, and paid the price for it.

  
Thankfully there were no cracks in his mask, or tears in his body suit, but still he lie unconscious. Out of fear, you shook his shoulder in hopes of rousing him.

  
It worked.

  
Brown's waking was rather violent. He jolted up, and given that you were still atop him, his helmet crashed rather brutally against your own, making your head ache and ears ring. Clutching your helmet, you reeled back and quickly lumber off the quiet impostor. 

  
It seemed he realized where he was fairly quickly, for he also stood and began checking you over anxiously. He took your shoulders, using them to turn you this way and that as he checked for any injuries. When his check was satisfied, he brought you tightly to himself in an all encompassing bear hug. You’re sure if you weren’t wearing a suit, it would be suffocating, but right now you felt it was exactly what you needed.

Wrapping your arms around him in return, you tried to sooth him with quiet reassurances.

  
Patting his shoulder, you separated yourself from him with some difficulty so that you could look him visor to visor, “We should check on the others. Black and Thomas could need us.”

  
Brown nodded vigorously in agreement, taking your hand tightly in his own as you both started the perilous climb back to electrical. Thankfully the ship hadn’t exploded and killed everyone, the Skeld being an older ship, and therefore made of sturdier stuff, but it had still crash landed at a horrible angle, leaving the hallways like steep ramps instead of flat pathways.

  
Still, you managed to stumble up the hallway, clutching to each other and the walls where you could. There were a few close calls where you almost fell, but Brown had a tight grip, one you knew he wouldn’t let go easily.

  
Once you made it to electrical, you found Orange, Black, and your baby boy. You were right that Black had wrapped his body around Thomas, but you were also surprised by the addition of Orange included in the protective body pile. Still, you were relieved to find at least three alive. You hoped Green, Yellow, Red, and Purple also made it. Hopefully they also had each other near. 

  
Thomas tried to scramble free from Black’s grip once he saw you, but Black barely moved. If anything, he curled tighter around his two charges. You approached carefully, the angle making it hard for you to reach them, but you did it nonetheless with Brown’s help. Touching Black’s arm gently made him startle and hiss violently, and you thought you saw a hint of teeth. Orange was unconscious, with blood dripping out of a seam by his shoulder. Thomas whined, and you made gentle gushing noises to hopefully soothe them both. 

  
To your surprise, Brown also made gentle noises that sounded alien in nature, and their effect was almost instantaneous. You felt more calm yourself, hearing the odd combination of a pure and chirp. It almost reminded you of the cats your mother'd owned when you were young.

  
Finally, with Black unfurling, you embraced Thomas closely. Brown had finally let go of your hand for this, and before you could think you also gathered him and Black in the hug. It was awkward and your arms had to stretch a little uncomfortably to fit Orange's unconscious body between you all, but it worked. The relief you were feeling was surely palpable. Your boys were all alive and alright, and now you just had to get Orange back to Yellow. Unfortunately, even with a few shakes, he was firmly checked out.

  
Quietly, you looked between your boys, your hand on Thomas's helm. Surprisingly, his crown was still in place. “I’m glad everyone’s alright.” With your level of relief, you could have kissed them, and that thought startled you. Instead, you tried to distract your mind with the concern for the others,

  
“C’mon, we need to find the others. Black, can you carry Orange?”

  
Black nodded, briefly resting Orange against the wall as he lumbered into standing. 

  
You were briefly worried about the blood on Orange, but you noticed it wasn’t seeping, just slightly old and starting to flake. As you followed Black into standing, he drew you into a bear hug similar to Brown's. It didn’t last nearly as long, but he did squeeze you tightly before letting go and hoisting Orange onto his back. 

  
“Alright, let’s go.” He said, taking the lead.  
You held Thomas close, and Brown walked closely enough to you that you could feel his arm brushing yours every so often. It was near silent bar your shuffling footsteps, and that alone made you nervous.

  
You found Purple first. He was in the hall, surrounded by loose ceiling tiles. Had he hit the ceiling? He was just getting up as you approached, and he waved to you while feeling around his helmet with his other hand. He looked completely intact, thank goodness. 

  
“Lookin’ to find th' others?” he slurred, and you nodded, beckoning him to follow your group of growing crewmates.

  
He stumbled a bit, but quickly found his footing. You would have to bring everyone to med bay after this, and hopefully get the power up and running in that section if you could. Who knows what kind of medical attention the others may need, and how long it would take for HQ to send a rescue- if you could even get an SOS signal out. You didn’t even know which planet you were on. With your luck, HQ wouldn’t find out anything was amiss until the Polus station marked you as MIA, and who knew how long that would take.

  
Still, you had the provisions to last. Now only if you had the man power to help you.

Though, it was looking up. More than half the crew was found, and so far everyone but Orange was functional.

  
You had no idea where to find the rest of the crew, but you hoped Red would be in Navigation like you suspected. If anything, you could just check every room as you passed, as Navigation was across the ship from your current location. As you entered the cafeteria, you were suddenly glad for everything being bolted to the ground, and you found Green at least.

  
The cafeteria had probably been the safest place to be during the attach. Your Christmas decorations were a mess, but that was fine.   
Looking out the cafeteria window, all was dark. What looked like some sort of soil showed through, but the colour was all wrong. You still had not a clue as to where you were.

  
Thankfully, Green was safely huddled under one of the tables, and he quickly skittered out when he saw you and your merry band's boots. His greeting was loud and panicky, and very boisterous. For a brief moment, he shook you by the shoulders, was stopped by Brown, and then he proceeded to hug each and every one of you, even the unconscious Orange. 

  
That was one more to your party. Now, just two more to go.

  
You explained your plan to the others as you went. Find everyone, visit med bay to drop off any injured that couldn’t walk or needed to lie down, and attempt to reconnect the power.

After that, find out where you were and if comms were working for an SOS. Everyone agreed and followed after you. It was only a few more hallways, but as you got further across the ship, the harder it became to climb. The angle at which you had to walk was very steep, and you couldn’t manage it without hanging onto the wall as best you could. Black eventually had to drop back, offering to head to med bay with Orange while you found the others, and you agreed with him. This was no place to fall with an unconscious member.

  
You made it to Navigation, and thankfully, you found the remaining two members of your crew. Yellow was thrown atop a console, looking a bit banged up and otherwise fine; just in need of some rousing.

  
Red…Red on the other hand, was lying flat on the floor, his legs pinned beneath a desk that had come loose from his bolts in the floor. There was a red splattering dripping from where the corner had crushed his leg. This wasn’t looking good.

  
With Brown and Purple's help, you carefully lifted the desk and examined the damage to Red's leg. It was bloody, but mostly with whatever had soaked through his suit. That, thankfully, was still in tact. 

  
Unfortunately, you didn’t have anything to wrap the wound and stop the bleeding, so it was important to get him to med bay for immediate care. Purple, being the largest of you present, offered to carry him, for which you were grateful. While he and Brown managed to get Red on his back, you and Green approached Yellow, who was now moaning lightly. Before you could reach her, she rolled off the console and into the floor with an 'oof' sound. 

  
She rolled for a moment before standing unsteadily. “What happened?”

  
You looked around you at the mess of a room, all the screens were either blank, or cracked and fizzing strangely. “I was hoping you would know, we crashed. What happened here? I was on my way when things started exploding.”

  
Yellow glanced at Red, taking in his injuries, and then the dangerous tilt of the floor. “I’m not sure myself, Red was talking to Orange about something, I couldn’t hear. We got off course I think? Like waaay off course. There’s no explanation for this, it doesn’t make sense!”

  
The Skeld was mostly flown by an automated system that predetermined the best route from Earth to Polus. It was a system that had worked countless times in the past, but for some reason had malfunctioned. You were now in an unknown location for an unknown amount of time, with no way of knowing help would be on the way.

  
“That would explain the asteroids being so large.” You turned, noticing Brown and Purple were ready to go with Red. “C'mon, we can talk about this when everyone is awake and cared for. Red is still bleeding and we need to stop it.”

  
Yellow nodded, and you lead the way down to Med bay. While Purple had Red, Green was helping Yellow, and you handed your boy to Brown to keep a tight hold on. Your balance wasn’t great, and you needed both hands to not fall face first down the ship's hallway.

  
You made it to med bay in one peace. Black was there, and he'd switched the pillows and blankets around on the beds so that if anyone were to lie down on them, their head would be elevated and their feet would be downward. It was currently the most comfortable solution.

  
You made quick work of getting Red settled and taken care of. Yellow had immediately rushed to Orange's side, and the other members of your crew hovered uselessly around. Purple had flopped against the wall, Green was watching over him carefully, and Brown and Black, along with Thomas, were standing by the door, looking strangely hesitant to be there.

  
So, you approached them and brought them into the hallway, closing the door behind you with a wave to Yellow.

  
“So, what are you thinking? You look worried.”

The question was directed at Black, who glanced at Brown, and then back to you.

  
“It wasn’t us. We don’t want you to think we sabotaged the ship and made this happen.” 

  
You nodded, not that you’d been thinking that anyway. There were a lot of human failsafes on the navigation system, and they could only be accessed by someone in high command at MIRA.

  
Black glanced again between the three of you. Your little one clung to your legs, and you pet his helmet to offer at least a small sliver of comfort. “We don’t know what planet we're on. We could be anywhere, depending on how early on the navigation was sabotaged,

  
It's definitely not Polus, and there’s no way it could be our home world. It's further out than Polus and we probably would have run out of rations before reaching it…” Black trailed off, making a small frustrated noise. Brown chattered at his side, and Black nodded.

  
“Brown’s right, we need to go outside and take a look. It’s possible we could recognize it.” You nodded. Impostors probably had much more knowledge of space than humans, having been there for much longer.

  
“We need to check the door hatches and see if we can get out to begin with. I think it’s towards storage, but before the crash there were some explosions in that direction…” and you would have to coordinate with everyone. It would be fine to leave the rest of the crew in med bay and take Brown and Black out, but communication was key in a situation like this. “Let me just tell the others and we can make our way out.”

  
They nodded and you turned around, opening the door as you did so. You quickly explained to your fellows where the three of you (plus your baby) were going, and headed out on your way with many wishes for you to be careful.

  
The way to Storage was easier than the way to navigation, as the hallway slant was horizontal instead of vertical. However, once you reached storage, you were stunned into silence. Not even the sound of your own breath could be heard.

  
The first thing you noticed was the boxes strewn about, some broken, some not. After that, came the giant, gaping hole in the side of the ship.

  
It looked like someone had blasted them down. The hole was easily twice your height, and at least eight feet wide. Outside of the whole, you could the same weirdly textured dirt as from the cafeteria window, and you carefully climbed out to take a look at your surroundings.

  
As you climbed, your boys at your back, you noticed the ground was soft. It looked similar in texture to dry moss, and when you out weight on it, your foot sunk slightly. 

  
Still, you somehow managed to crawl out of the small crater that was your crash site. Once you got to the top, a soft gasp left your lips, and you observed the scenery before you.

  
Above ground, the spongy earth was the colour of a dark blue-ish teal, and the sky was tinted a beautiful dusty pink.

  
However, the most noticeable feature of this landscape, and also the most stunning, were the very tall, very enormous, crystal trees.

  
They shone with an inner radiance, and if your mind wasn’t so stuck on how beautiful they were, you would be worried about radiation levels. Beyond that, the star that this planet orbited was far in the sky, leaving the atmosphere cold. The trees, however, glittered. It was absolutely stunning, and your knees felt weak just having upon them. Never had you seen something so dazzling, so kaleidoscopic.

  
Likewise, Brown, Black, and Thomas were also stunned into equal silence. It was only after a few moments that Black broke the silence with a quiet whisper,

  
“I have no idea where we are.”

  
And reality came crashing down on you.


	11. A day in pink's head

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You take charge of the crew, and take some well deserved R&R.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am pumping these chapters out, wow.
> 
> Actually, since starting this, I haven't had very much motivation to read. My attention span is shot and I'm hyperfocusing on this story, because it's the story I want to read.
> 
> The response for last chapter was phenomenal! Thank you so much!
> 
> So enjoy pink's thoughts and worries, and a little bit of a shorter chapter :3

Red and Orange were both awake by the next day. After a thorough examination of Red's leg, it was determined that aside from the gash on his leg, his ankle was also broken. Purple, with the most knowledge of taking care of people, offered to stay in the med bay and make sure Red healed up nicely, and also to keep an eye on Orange, who still seemed to be struggling a little with his motor skills.

  
It was up to you and the rest of the remaining crew to take samples of the new environment. Once you’d gotten over the beauty of the landscape and the horror over being lost, you excitedly collected your testing gear for the environments and soil.

You couldn’t help but chatter excitedly to Green as you both worked on collections, and he agreed with you that it was a very, very beautiful planet.

  
Well, beautiful despite the cold. The night had been brutal, and you’d all huddled in close to keep warm with whatever thermal blankets you could find. Unfortunately, the Skeld wasn’t exactly equipped to deal with surprise trips to strange planets.

  
Luckily enough, the air seemed to be composed of non-harmful elements, and so you were saved the issue of not being able to lift your visors to eat, so that was a plus.

  
Black was standing guard over the two of you as you collected samples, and Brown was running around after Thomas, the young one stretching his legs for the first time since you adopted him, and boy could the little guy run.

  
Spontaneously, you decided to take a break, you stood, and Black gave you a quick side eye as you stretched your legs. If he could see under your visor, he would see the large, mischievous grin underneath it.

  
You ran after the two already moving, quickly joining their small game of 'chase the baby’. Thomas squealed loudly at your inclusion, and you swear you heard Brown make a similar noise. You chased after them both, instigating a human game of tag with a quick tap to Brown's arm and a, “Tag, you’re it!” thrown behind you as you ran away from him.

  
You even managed to get Black and Green involved, but you lost wind quickly, far too used to moving at a slower pace for you to be in any sort of good shape.

  
So instead, you ended the game by scooping Thomas up around his middle, swinging him around in a circle with your momentum. You both laughed, and you tucked him in close to you as you waved to the other three, who were quick to follow you inside to relax.

  
The ship was still askew, but you were getting used to it now. The barracks were a mess, so everyone had adapted to sleeping in a pile in the med bay. Other than that, everything seemed fine. The samples you collected were clean, and you’d fixed the electricity with Yellow that morning, as soon as you’d woke up- which was quite early due to the cold.

  
Even your food supply would be okay. It turned out that the ground samples of that weird spongey material were completely edible and digestible for humans, so that was a relief. Now you only had to worry about the non-humans of your team, which, with a diet of protein, made things a little more complicated. 

  
You hadn’t seen any wildlife on this planet yet, other than the plant material that the ground was made of, and the large crystal trees. You wondered if you dug deep enough, if you would find that the planet had a crystal core. The trees had to come from somewhere, right?

  
And so far the weather had been agreeable, again, other than the cold. Perhaps the planet had a summer season and a winter season, similar to Earth? You would love to study it’s patterns while you were planetside. Though, you did worry briefly about other inclement weather. Did it rain water? Was it drinkable? You hadn’t seen any sign of water since you started exploring, and although that wasn’t very long ago, you were still just a tiny bit worried.

  
Not to mention pathogens. What were you exposing yourself to while here? Was there any human only diseases that resided on this planet? You would have to be careful and get everyone to keep an eye on each other.

  
Which you were already doing. It was pretty common for you to be with Black or Brown as per usual, as the three of you, plus your boy, were the healthiest of the crew at the moment, having not been injured in the crash. You also did a few things with Yellow and Green every so often, and helped care for Red and Orange with Purple. Everyone was really working together on this now that you were in a true crisis situation. Even the impostors were lending their aid, which was truly helpful- not that anyone but you knew.

  
But you knew this peace could not last. Something was going to happen soon, whether good or bad, you couldn’t tell. You could just feel it in your bones as you went about your day. It bothered you greatly, and you did your utmost best to keep it at bay to stop it from interfering with your mood and work.

  
Thankfully your trio of boys had picked up on your concerns, and were all acting a little extra watchful. Even small Thomas was listening to you like the angel he was.

  
Still, you thought, you were keeping everyone fed and alive. This was optimal for the situation. You were so lucky no one had died in the crash, a one in a million chance. 

  
Before you could get distracted again, you set your little one free and turned to Black. Green had gone ahead of you, and so it was only you and the impostors now.

  
“You know, I’ve been wondering…how have you not eaten anyone in all the time of being aboard?” you kept your words small and hushed, not wanting to risk being overheard. Black leaned his head down towards yours as he answered.

  
“Our packs aren’t just human support packs, you know. They carry what we need in case of emergencies, and that includes a liquid food that we can absorb any time.” Black paused and glanced at Brown, “we were planning on taking stock so we could split it up and share with our little one. We wouldn’t want him to starve now.”

  
You brightened and nodded, “That’s an excellent plan, I appreciate it! If there’s anything I can do to help, please say so.” 

  
You hadn’t missed the way Black had said _our_ little one. It gave you a warm and fluttery feeling in your gut, like you were a small family. Like he considered himself one of Thomas’s parents beside yourself. You wondered if Brown felt the same.

  
Your crush was odd and so were you. Part of you wanted to squash it and just go on with your life, but the other part of you was screaming to take the reigns of your love life and dive in head first with no protective gear whatsoever. And it didn’t help either, that you might be crushing on both your impostors.

Ugh, your dumb and greedy heart.

  
Still, you were warm and happy. Even if you had to find a way to spend the rest of your life on this planet, at least you had Brown and Black, and Thomas. You would be able to watch him grow and learn to take care of others just as you did. It warmed your heard to think of, and it made you yearn for a more normal family dynamic.

  
Though, you probably wouldn’t change this for the world. Meeting Thomas, adopting him, getting to know his cute little quirks, and also getting to know Brown and Black because of him. It was like a dream.

  
So, with your happiness, you hummed along the rest of the way.

  
And you thought, you worked hard that day, so surely you deserved some quality time with your son? 

  
You said your goodbyes to Black and Brown, scooped Thomas up, and made your way to the cafeteria for some good old bonding time. You may not be able to stargaze anymore, but there was still plenty of paper and decorations. Perhaps a craft day was in order.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to wake up in like 4 hours. Why do I do this to myself?


	12. Lost & Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You just wanted to take Thomas for an adventure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was actually planned to be a fluff chapter, but it turned into this... Hhaa aha..
> 
> Another short chapter, but oh well! Enjoy it anyway :3

The whole crew insisted you take a break.

They had actually ganged up on you, cornered you, and told you to relax.

Apparently they thought you were taking on too much work that could be easily divided between them all, and then they insisted you go spend some quality time with your young 'un. 

  
Regrettably, thinking back on it, since the crash, you’d settled into your mothering mode for everyone and therefore felt a responsibility to take care of the crew. You admit it was a bit straining, but your heart said they needed you. You couldn’t just let them work and suffer, when you were perfectly capable of working for them.

  
But they were right. It was time to take a break and focus on Thomas, the sweet boy with the patience of a saint. This whole time, he'd been following behind you obediently, carrying small things and trying to help you take care of everyone. You swear, your boy was taking more after you every day.

  
It was so cute to watch too, as he hovered around the other crewmembers, sometime with his hands up and fluttering in front of him, as if he wanted to help but didn’t know how. Your boy was so precious; a treasure to your life and this crew.

  
So, the crew had forced you out of the med bay, and with you, your son. Black and Brown had tried to follow, but you waved them off. You could take care of yourself and Thomas for a few hours without the hubbub of the two hovering impostors.

  
You decided to take Thomas outside for some quality quiet time, and besides that, you really wanted to get close to one of the crystal trees surrounding the ship. Did they shed crystals? Maybe you could find a souvenir.

  
Taking your boy’s hand, you wandered outside and hoisted him up on your front. You’d found this was the easiest way to climb the crater wall, because Thomas was small enough to nestle into chest without even grazing the ground behind him, and you didn’t need to worry about him falling behind (or falling in general).

  
When you reached the top, you placed him down and surveyed the crash sight once more. Looking down on the Skeld, as you did everytime you came outside, you briefly studied the damage, but ultimately turned away to continue on your adventure.

  
Making your way to the closest massive tree of glittering crystal took a bit longer than you expected. Despite their apparent nearness, it was very deceiving. Like spotting land in an open ocean, it definitely appeared closer than it was.

  
Still, you persevered for your own curiosity.   
As you got closer, you got a better feeling of just how ginormous the crystal trees were. You held tightly to Thomas’ hand. 

  
If you were to lie down beside one of these trees, you realized, the trunk itself would be at least triple you in width. Not to mention their _height_. It was like standing next to a skyscraper and looking up at it, slightly disorienting but very, very cool.

  
You felt so small in that moment, standing there with your even smaller son. 

  
You didn’t touch the crystal for fear of it being dangerous, but there was no harm in looking. You circled the tree once, and found it symmetrical on all sides. It really was an odd thing. Many smaller crystals grew at its base, and as your eyes traveled up the tree, you noticed how they merged and blended together as they grew. It gave you a good sense on how these trees grew, first outward, and then upward. It also gave you an idea to how old they must be, to have gotten so big. There wasn’t a plant on earth that even neared the sheer size of this tree in front of you. 

  
Eventually you trusted Thomas not to wander off, and with a few stern instructions on not to touch anything, and to stay in sight, you let go of his hand. Ever the obedient little one, he did as you were told.

  
Until, that is, he tripped. There was a slight mound on the ground, nearly hidden entirely by the mossy, spongy ground. You helped your son up quickly, patting the dirt off him as you went. Once he confirmed he was fine, you took a closer look at what exactly had tripped him up.

  
As you kicked some dirt away from the mound, you got your answer, and it chilled you to your very bones.

  
“What’s that, mama?” you heard Thomas faintly ask. You hushed him, and carefully wrapped the object back into its mossy cocoon. Using your fingers, you dug around it to uproot it, and held it under one arm as you stood again. Before you turned to leave, you grabbed Thomas’s hand again.

  
“It’s nothing, sweetie. We're just gonna bring it to the others for them to look, okay?” You felt Thomas nod, and you turned to head back to the ship. It would take a little while to get back, but this was important, and your mind was running a mile a minute.

  
Well, you thought with some irony, it looked like you were returning with a souvenir after all, and boy were you absolutely positive it was going to freak out your fellow crewmates as much as it had you, if not even more so.

  
When you reached the crater that belonged to the Skeld, you quickly hoisted your son up in one arm, resting him against your hit. To make your descent faster, you slid on your feet down the slope, and quickly entered.

  
You set Thomas down, and gave a quick nod to Brown, who appeared to have been hovering by the entrance. You hoped he hadn’t been there the entire time you’d been gone, the sweetheart.

  
You beckoned him to follow you as moved, and once you reached the cafeteria, you hit the button.

  
The emergency meeting notification popped up on the inner screen of your helmet, and your short range comms came crackling into life. Instead of wasting time trying to speak through a broken comm system, you simply said, “med bay.”

  
You made your way towards med bay with Brown and Thomas, meeting up with Green along the way. Most likely Yellow was with Orange already in med bay, and you knew Purple was still caring for Red as well. Black, to your knowledge, could be anywhere.

  
You made it to your destination quickly, and unfortunately, you had to keep holding on to your unexpected cargo. You would have set it on the counter, but the room was so slanted it would have rolled right off and under the beds.

  
When everyone was present, Black looming into the room last to stand slightly behind you, Red spoke, “Pink, why did you call an emergency?”

  
You huffed, “You’re not going to believe what I found.” And you held your package forward.

  
Peeling off its mossy exterior so everyone could see, you revealed what you’d found by the crystal tree.

  
You revealed a human skull.


	13. A hop, skip, and jump

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The skull discussed, and boredom sets in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Halllooo, a bit of a chill chapter here, enjoy!
> 
> In other news, I baked cookies today :3

After your revelation to the crew, the conversation went a few different ways, and it was pretty split between two opinions.

  
On one hand, it meant that you weren’t the first humans to land there, and for all you knew, there could be a small colony somewhere who could either A) lend you a ship, or B) cannibalize you. Red, along with Purple, and surprisingly Brown, voted for the crew to search for them. 

  
On the other hand, you didn’t truly know if the skull was human, though it sure as hell looked like one, with vacant, dirt filled eye sockets, and rounded teeth and molars. It was missing its lower jaw, but it was still easily identifiable by its shape and common human skeletal properties. Purple also had input for this subject, stating they could utilize the ship’s testing capabilities and scan for human DNA. Green volunteered to clean the skull for testing.

  
Yellow, the outlier in the conversation, simply yelled; “Pink, we sent you to relax, not find _bones_! _Human bones_! Why is it _always_ you!” 

  
You could do little against her barrage, so you shrugged and patted Thomas’ helm. Technically, he was the one to find it.

  
So here you were now, once more alone in the hallway save for your son, letting gravity take you as you leaned heavily against a wall. The tilt of the ship making it strangely comforting. Thomas, likewise, was copying you again, and you both started up at the ceiling for a few minutes. After that time passed and no one showed up, Thomas broke the silence, “Mama, what’s a skull?”

  
You looked down at him for a moment, contemplating the question. Well, he was a child. He probably truly didn’t know yet. After all, all children had to learn anatomy in their life at some point, right?

  
“The skull is the bone in your head that protects your brain, and helps shape the way you look.”

  
Your son was silent after that, as if thinking the new information over. You wondered if impostor anatomy was the same as a human, considering their similar shape, or if that was a choice the impostors made. You remember your little boy under the suit, and he truly looked like a human child of about six or eight.

  
You slid down the wall a bit to sit eye to eye with your boy, and you gently poked him in the stomach. He made to swipe your hand away, but you persisted, “Alright kiddo, why don’t we go find something to do while we wait around?” his only response was to nod.

  
So you endeavoured to find something to do in the ship. Again, not hard to do, but still a task in and of itself with the ship so damaged. Electrical was out, since now there were some dangerous live wires hanging around after the crash and repair, the cafeteria was a possibility, but you’d hung out there yesterday. You could try to see if any of the board games survived the impact, but those were also getting old.

  
You thought about it some more, and ultimately decided to stay where you were. Instead, you taught Thomas the common earthen child's game, patty cakes. You sung the small tune softly as you played, and Thomas seemed to be enjoying it. You went quicker, and Thomas kept up. You were a bit surprised, but your boy was a small impostor, and they were a pretty dangerous race, so some differences from a normal child were to be expected.

  
You wondered what else was different physiologically. Was he stronger than you? Did he find this situation as stressful as you did? Perhaps you would never know, or perhaps you would find out later, when Thomas was older.

  
That was fine, you were happy doing what you’re doing. Playing with him, teaching him things; it was a true treat. You loved him.  
A few minutes later, you had an idea. It required flat ground though, and something to mark the ground with.

  
You ended up finding colourful tape that was probably meant for repairs or electrical work, but you shrugged it away and brought a few colours with you. Bringing your boy along, you made your way to the hole that made up the Skeld's entrance to the outside world.

  
You saw Brown there again, and you suddenly realized he was 'guarding' the exit. Which, after finding the skull, was an excellent idea. You would have to mention it to Red later to hopefully get a rotation going for all the able bodied crewmembers. For now though, you offered for him to come with you. It felt like forever since you’d had a chat with either Brown or Black.

  
Brown was a bit hesitant to agree, you could tell, but eventually, after waiting a few minutes, he finally relented. You mentioned to him that you weren’t going very far from the ship’s entrance anyway, so he could stay if he wanted, but it would definitely be more fun with him. Why settle for teaching one impostor human games, when you could teach two?

  
So Brown followed you up, and you told them to wait while you set things up. They watched you pretty closely as you worked on taping squares onto the ground, and for a moment your mind flashed to a time that seemed so far away, when you thought Brown was just a normal person. Memories of teaching him tasks and having him observe over your shoulder floated through your thoughts, and you couldn’t help but smile sweetly as you thought of the not so far off past.

  
It was truly hard to believe that you’d only known this crew for about a month- two if you counted the stasis MIRA put you in to transport you to the Skeld. It seemed like such a short and insignificant time, yet so much had happened and you’d formed bonds that would last a lifetime.

  
You set the remaining tape rolls in one of your many pockets, and gazed at your work. It wasn’t perfect, as the tape didn’t stick too well to the ground, but it was good enough.

  
Turning to your two silent watchers, you smiled brightly at them, not that they could tell. You gestured them over, and they followed. You had them stand beside you at the beginning square as you finally revealed the human game to them.

  
Hopscotch.

  
You quickly went on to explain the simple skipping game, “This is hopscotch! It’s a traditional children’s game on Earth. Normally you would have to throw a stone or object into the squares in order, skip all the way to the end, and then skip back and pick it up, but it’s pretty simple and fun without that too! I used to play this game for hours when I was young.” You remember the driveway, the chalk colours, the neighbourhood kids all gathering into one driveway to play games. Hopscotch, basketball, hell, even just doodling on the pavement in chalk. 

  
You felt nostalgic as you demonstrated how to hop properly for the game (on one foot, unless on the double square), and let the boys take turns. It was good fun, and had time passing quite quickly. For Thomas, he stuck to the simple hopping technique, but occasionally Brown would do something fancy; a twirl here, a handstand there. If you didn’t know better, you'd think he was showing off, what with the way he glanced at you with ever trick. You couldn’t help but clap on the sidelines to make sure he knew you noticed.

  
Eventually the temperature started to chill and you knew it was probably around dinner time. You’d gone from hopscotch to story telling, and you’d just finished a retelling of the classic Beauty and the Beast before Thomas started making an odd whining sound, one you hadn’t heard before.

  
Brown however, seemed to have, for he shrugged off his support pack and briefly rested it between his crossed legs. The three of you were sitting on the ground just outside the Skeld, you and Brown were both sitting cross legged, with Thomas resting in your lap. You took this opportunity to cuddle him mercilessly as he squealed and wiggled.

  
The whining subsided as Brown pulled out a funny looking drink. It resembled a small soda can, except instead of the tab to open it like you were used to, it had something that looked like a sealed nozzle-straw. You watched carefully as Brown offered it to Thomas, and Thomas greedily popped it open with his suddenly very sharp teeth.

  
Oh.

  
Thomas had been hungry, that’s what that sound was for. You relaxed a bit and thanked Brown. You wouldn’t know what to do with your boy if he suddenly decided to eat a crewmember spontaneously, not that you think he would- Thomas was far too sweet to everyone on board for him to even think of eating them, you hoped.

  
As all three of you stood to go inside (after Thomas had finished slurping up what essentially was a protein shake), you thanked Brown again. Just then, Black appeared from the doorway to tell them that dinner was being served, and you became aware of your own hunger. Playfully, you scooped your baby up and slid back into the crater and past Black, throwing him a quick thanks from over your shoulder. 

  
At the time, you didn’t even think to realize Thomas hadn’t once lifted his helmet to eat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dundunduuun, Thomas is changing, will pink notice?


	14. Scouting.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was time to discover the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've been extremely busy with work, but here you go!
> 
> I had some trouble with this chapter, but I think it turned out okay. Thank you for viewing my story! I really appreciate all of you <3

The next few days passed without issue. The skull had indeed identified as human, and the crew as a whole was left with more questions than answers. Orange was finally doing better, no longer having balance issues or migraines, so that was a plus. Hopefully soon you and the crew would be able to start searching for more signs of human life. 

  
The current vote in was to send the most fit able bodies to search, but only on a daily basis and within sight of the ship. The weather on the planet was proving to be getting colder over time, and you didn’t want anyone passing due to the elements. Due to the Skeld's lack of sufficient heating and the giant hole in its side, this, to you, was a serious concern.

  
Already the nights were cold, and everyone found themselves huddling closer and closer in sleep. Often enough you found yourself cuddled between Brown and Black, with Thomas wedged somewhere in between your sides. This worked in your favour, as the impostors ran slightly hotter than the regular human, leaving you toasty warm and Thomas comfortable.

  
You could say the entire ship was jealous of your position, and you couldn’t count the amount of times Green, or even Yellow or Orange, tried to fight for a place near the heat producers (usually Purple and Red won, mostly because they never fought). Still, you were grateful for the two for keeping you and the small one warm. Thomas didn’t run as hot yet, and so the heat escaped him a bit.

Black said that was normal, as their home planet was basically what humans would call a sauna. Lots of steam released from the earth in geysers there, and lava spattered the ground in small pools all over the planet.

  
You imagined it to be beautiful, but Black had told you when talking about it, that the sky was always dark and starless, and there was always a sense of fear. To be an impostor was to be expendable, and repeated failure could be punishable by death. It was not a place for humans- even the atmosphere wasn’t compatible with your kind.

  
Basically, it was a good thing impostor biology was highly adaptable to different environments.

  
You were enjoying your last day of quiet time before the expeditions. Tomorrow, Black and Green were going to wander further than anyone had before, and do the aforementioned search for life. You really hoped that if they found anything, they would be friendly. You also hoped they were at least somewhat technologically advanced. You did not want to be stuck on a planet with a primitive and violent race.

  
So you spent that time, as usual, with your son. You were very quickly running out of activities with half the tasks on the ship being useless. You’d long cleaned up the mess in the cafeteria, you'd searched for your board games and such, only to find them soggy and soaking from a broken pipe, which you quickly patched up upon finding. So, you spend some time trying to teach Thomas to read and write. 

  
You'd found an empty notebook lying around, and the pens were plentiful enough around the ship. You weren’t sure how much Thomas knew already, or how old he was. You considered briefly that perhaps impostors aged differently- but you had no idea of that translation either.

  
More often than not, Thomas would draw pictures instead of practicing his letters. You now had one of yourself and your little one holding hands, you had one of each of the crew, and one of you, Brown, Black, and Thomas together. In the last picture, strangely enough, Thomas had drawn little odd spikes coming from the two in the darker coloured suits. Were those supposed to be the impostor tentacles? 

  
You just wouldn’t show that one to anyone.

  
It was adorable, and you would keep every single one of them. Hopefully when you returned to Earth, if you returned, you would have some pictures intact to hang on your fridge.

  
So that’s how you spent your day; bored, watching your child doodle whatever he wanted. You were surprised that Thomas, as the only child on board, hadn’t thrown a fit of any kind yet. He was a patient child, well behaved and kind, and you were proud of him. You wondered if it was an impostor thing to be so quiet. You knew Thomas knew how to talk, and yet he preferred to stay mostly silent.

  
You did notice he was starting to develop a twitch, but when you’d approached Black about it, he'd waved it off as nothing to worry about. “Acclimating.” Is what he called it.

  
Whatever your boy could possibly be acclimating to, you would never know, but hoped to find out. If it got worse, you had no doubt in your mind you would have stern words with Black. You would worry. Of course you would worry.

  
Later on in the evening that night, curled in a group with your crewmates, you held a whispered, almost somber conversation. It was voted that the next day, Black and Green would go for a walk into the wilderness, and come back with a report. Of course, at the sign of any danger, they were also told to return. No one on the ship wanted to lose each other right now, and while you worried for Black and Green, you hoped they would bring good news.

  
The following morning was quiet. Everyone was fed and the two explorers were given a pair of flare guns that were found in storage. One person would keep watch in the direction of the travellers, and if there was danger that they absolutely couldn’t get away from, one of them was to set off the flares to signal for help.

  
Determined by the fact that you had a kid to watch over, you were vetoed from both the exploration groups and the watcher groups. Instead, Orange, having the loudest voice, would sit the vigil for his walking friends. This way he could yell for anyone in earshot if he saw anything happen.

  
The day was oddly silent.

  
You thought you spotted Brown out of the corner of your eye a few times, but dismissed it. Otherwise, you spent time entertaining your boy, and oddly enough, Red. You hadn’t spent time alone with him, well, ever, and so today you were getting to know him.

  
It was awkward at first, but eventually you got talking about regular earth things. Music, locations, favourite foods. It was the most normal ice breaker conversation you’d had with anyone since arriving. Red was a very serious individual who craved structure and order, while you, on the other hand, thrived for in the moment emotional decisions.

Though, up until that point, all the decisions you’d made since boarding the ship had been for the well-being of Thomas. Red respected you for that, and offered to watch your boy if you ever needed it. 

  
Your thoughts drifted towards Brown and Black. You doubted you would ever need Red's assistance, but you thanked him all the same. If worst came to worst, you knew this crew was trustworthy. So far.

  
The scouts returned just as the temperature started to drop and the sky began turning a dark, dusty purple. If anything, this planet had a beautiful sky, and with the luminescence of the trees, it was made even more so. If you had a camera, you would stay atop the ship forever just taking pictures.

  
However, that was not your focus at the moment. Tearing your gaze away from the sky, you followed the returned group into the Skeld, and once everyone was settled and the returnees bundled up to get warm, they described the endless fields as far as the eye could see, with their gentle rolling hills, and crystal trees. There was nothing new to report, however, they did notice that the further away they travelled, the thinner and sharper the crystals got, some being the size and shape of small shrubs instead of the giant trees you constantly saw. Perhaps that was the way the crystal forest spread, and it was very curious.

  
They saw no wildlife, heard no noises, and turned back once it was evident that they wouldn’t find anything in a timely matter. Black described it as a multi-day trip to make any significant headway.

  
The thought made you shiver slightly. Cold days and even colder nights outside of the Skeld, looking for things that might not even be there. It didn’t appeal to you, but you supposed finding a solution to your issue of being stranded took precedence. You did want to return home at some point in the near future.

  
And as odd as it was, navigation and comms hadn’t shown any signs of sabotage. It was an inside job from MIRA, you were sure. What they were possibly after, or their reasoning for stranding your particular crew, remained a mystery. One thing was for certain though; you couldn’t trust MIRA to find you.

  
So as you spoke, you fed everyone once again, and slept, and woke, and fed. The cycle continued.

  
The next day, it was Brown and Yellow to wander in the opposite direction that Black and Green had previously wandered.

  
The day after, Purple and Orange, to the west of the ship.

  
The pattern continued on for a few days, until, one day, Orange came barreling down the slanted halls of the Skeld, skidding to a stop where you were once again sitting with Red, this time with Purple and Black by your side, and your baby boy sitting in your lap playing with your fingers. Orange was panting, the panic in his body language unusual. You stood immediately in worry.

Today was a Brown and Yellow day.

  
“The flare! I saw the flare!” immediately the room burst into action, and Black, being the fastest of you, ran at full speed to the entrance.

  
You followed as best you could with Thomas in your arms, but you were still much slower, trailing behind Purple and Orange, and now Green, who came from a different hall, obviously hearing the commotion. 

  
When you got to the entrance and out of the crater, you saw in the distance, two figures hobbling towards the ship. They must have been on their way back, but what happened? It looked like at least one of them was hurt, but you couldn’t see with the natural lighting of the planet.

  
Black rushed out to meet them, Purple hot on his heels with his long legs. You watched, in the distance, as one of the scouts was scooped up, and an anxiety for their safety filled you.

  
It took a few minutes of rushing, but when they got close enough, you could see Brown, his limp form dangling from Black's arms. As they got closer and closer, you could see small red rivulets dripping down his helmet and arms, and even his leg looked twisted at an odd angle. Your immediate reaction was to cover your mouth in horror, however you had Thomas in your arms, so instead, you turned away and rushed to the med bay to get things prepared.

  
As you went you set Thomas in the sleeping corner to keep him out of the way, quickly explaining to Red what you saw. Brown.

Mangled Brown. Your chest constricted painfully and you clutched at it for a moment as you tried to find more gauze. He had to be okay. He had to live. You would not consider his passing an option. You couldn’t.

  
Brown was one of your closest friends. He was shy, and he was just starting to open up to you. You couldn’t have that ruined by some measly injuries. You needed to fix this. You would.

  
The others came barreling in and Brown was quickly set down. This time, you truly did cover your mouth. The injuries were far more extensive than you thought.

  
Holes.

  
Literal holes punched through Brown. You could see his blood and gore oozing from the holes in his shoulders and arms. You felt physical ill just looking at the damage. And of course, what looked like a broken leg.

  
Brown looked dead.

  
You looked to Yellow, in the arms of Orange as he whispered sweet words of comfort to her. Purple was now rushing and doing his best to stop the bleeding, and Black. 

  
Black was completely still. Stiff as a board beside Brown’s place in the med bay bed.

However, when you looked close, you could see that wasn’t entirely true. His hands were working furiously, closing and opening, closing, opening. Repeatedly forming fists. Even closer still, you could see the slight tremble in his shoulders. 

Instead of rushing to his side like your body told you to, you again turned to Yellow,

“Yellow, what happened?”

  
Yellow, in an instant, detached from Orange to throw herself at you. Yellow was normally a very quiet and timid, happy individual, but this time, she just emailed into your shoulder, “I don’t know! I don’t know! We were attacked, I didn’t see- see anything!” she hiccuped into your shoulder and you patted her gently.

  
“Brown pushed me out of the way and I landed face first on the ground! There was so much noise, a, a harsh screaming, an-and this shattering noise, and when I got up,” Yellow paused to take a few breaths, “ when I got up, his mask and suit were broken. There was bloody crystals. I saw, I saw some weird claw marks and foot prints, but they were weird!”

  
Yellow wailed again and hugged you close, “I was so scared!”

  
You glanced over her shoulder, first at Orange, and then, subconsciously, at Black.

He was watching you now, and for whatever reason, you nodded to him in acknowledgment. “Will Brown live?” you asked him.

  
Black nodded yes. You trusted Black with your life, Brown would live.

  
Now all that was left was to find what did this, and protect the rest of the crew.


	15. Brown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Restlessness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This didn't exactly turn out how I wanted it to, but good all the same! Next chapter we'll be getting more into what happened to Brown.
> 
> I've been busy! But hopefully with the few days I have off I can bust out a few chapters to catch up. Thanks for reading!

Brown's condition was bad. Critical, even.

Purple and Black spent most of the night stabilizing him, and despite no others on the crew taking a key part, no one got a wink of sleep. Well, except for the little one, who nodded off sometime in the middle of the night, cozied up to your chest, which was a comfort in and of itself.

  
The crew spent the night outside of the med bay, giving the two inside more room to work as they needed. Yellow was often heard mumbling to herself, but under Orange's care, her panic and fright seemed to be quieting down. You hoped this wouldn’t haunt her for too long. Maybe if she saw Brown alive and well, she would feel better. It must have been a truly harrowing experience for her.

  
You were settled on Yellow's other side, offering what comfort you could in these trying times.

  
Eventually, Purple emerged from Medical, red blood covering up to the elbows of his suit. Unsanitary, you though, but you didn’t have the resources nor the means to procure the medical equipment needed for things like this. At most, the med bay was just a glorified first aid kit with a scanner; and thankfully the scanner was broken in the crash. There would be no coming back from the discovery of the impostors if they decided to scan Black or Brown. 

  
Through the crack in the door, you caught a glimpse of Black leaning over Brown, peering into the mask and around the neck of the suit. You hoped things were well, there was a lot of blood.

  
Purple took a deep breath and let it out in one big whoosh, “We cleaned sewed up what injuries we could- the rest is up to Brown.”

The pack of you were silent, but you sighed softly in relief. Brown would live. He would be up and about in no time, you knew it.

  
“We found evidence of crystals in the wound, so let’s be more careful from now on.” Purple observed everyone, “we’ll wait til he wakes up to go on anymore expeditions, I think. It would be safer to find out what attacked us.” Murmurs of agreement and nods went around. You agreed quietly as well and held tightly to Thomas's hand.

  
You cleared your throat, “Can we see him?” 

  
Purple shrugged in response, as if to say do whatever you wanted, and gestured to the door. “He won’t be awake any time soon, but feel free.”

  
No one else moved, but you got up and slid through the med bay door with Thomas. Closing it behind you, you approached the bed with Brown in it, Black still standing close.

  
“Black..?” He jerked a bit in surprise, though you were sure he must’ve seen you’re approach since he was facing the door. Still, he looked in your direction and nodded in greeting.

  
“Hey Pink, Thomas.” He turned his head back towards Brown, and the now closed wounds. “hard to believe one of _us_ could get so injured, huh?”

  
You knew by 'us' he meant the impostors. You knew they were a hardy bunch, but you didn’t truly know the extent of it. Black continued to speak,

  
“The location of these punctures…whatever happened, he tried to defend himself.” Now that you looked closer, you could see a pattern to the punctures. It looked vaguely familiar, and for a moment, your mind flashed to Thomas, and you remembered where his true, larger mouth was. The punctures…were in perfect placement to be in line with Brown's impostor mouth. The thought gave you the chills.

  
“But he'll be okay…right? He'll heal?” Black nodded in response to your questions.

  
“He'll be fine. It’ll just take time.”

  
You hummed and reached down towards Brown, resting your hand on his helmet. “Do you know when he'll wake up?”

  
Black hummed in response, tilting his head as he did so. “Probably tomorrow. He should heal fast now that we've stitched him shut.” 

  
You nodded, and felt hopeful. Whatever did this to Brown, you wanted to make sure it didn’t happen to any of the other crewmates.

If the thing had gotten Yellow instead…you held no illusion that she would have lived. You had a feeling that Brown knew this and did what he had to for them both to come home alive. 

  
By this point Thomas had grabbed Brown's hand and was whining slightly. You pet his back in hopes of helping calm him, and crouched down to his level. “Hey little guy, don’t worry, okay? We'll talk to Brown tomorrow. He'll be fine, you’ll see.” 

  
Thomas sniffled, and came in close once you opened your arms. With him safely and comfortably snuggled in the junction between your shoulder and helmet, you scooped him up and turned to leave the med bay. “if you need anything Black, let me know. If he wakes up, come get us please?”

  
Black nodded and waved slightly as you left, a “have a good evening.” leaving his lips. You left to return to the group, nodding to them as you slumped against the wall, Thomas in your lap. Your little boy was a great comfort in this time, the perfect size and warmth to hug in the chilly hallway of the Skeld. Without Black and Brown there, it was even colder.  
As you tried to fall asleep, thoughts came from the depths of your mind; what would happen when Brown woke up? What kind of monster did this? Did the trees have something to do with it? 

  
Would Brown take a turn for the worse? You hoped not. You prayed not.

  
If not for your little boy, you would have long gotten up and paced, or sat by Brown's bedside just to see him. You were scared. Brown wasn’t someone you wanted to lose, not when you were truly starting to get to know each other. Not when Thomas was so attached. You had to believe with everything you had that everything would be fine.

  
With these thoughts and prayers, you fell into an uneasy sleep, with the cold and dread seeping into your sleep.

* * *

  
The next morning, you woke when Yellow moved from beside you. It looked as if she was heading towards the bathrooms, so you got up and followed after her, leaving Thomas with Purple. With a hiss, her helmet came off, and her ginger hair spilled out. You followed suit, letting your own brown curls fall loose. It was silent as you both rinsed your faces, and you focused on her gaunt looking face. “Yellow, if there’s anything I can do…”

  
Yellow waved you off, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine…but Brown…” 

  
“Yeah…” you both trailed off into a somewhat awkward silence. Instead of saying anything else, you finished your business, replaced you helmet on your head, and on your way back, you walked closer than normal. The comfort of having someone else there was important. You felt you needed this just as much as Yellow.

  
When you got back, your little one was fussing, so you scooped him up and decided to enter the med bay. Black jumped slightly at the sound, and you noticed he hadn’t moved since you last saw him. Still, he stood by Brown’s bedside, focus solely on Brown's still body.

  
Except, Brown wasn’t completely still now.

  
Small twitched ran up from his fingers to his elbows. Sometimes his shoulder or head would jerk, before lying still again. Looking closer, he looked...slightly deformed? Like parts of his body was bulging oddly under his suit, and you looked at Black questioningly.

Feeling your gaze, Black responded, “He’s waking up, that’s all.” You nodded. You still didn’t know enough about impostor biology to understand completely, but still you stood and waited, holding your boy close to your side.

  
Eventually, Brown groaned and rolled a bit, only to sit up slowly. It looked painful to you, and briefly you fretted that he would tear his stiches. Black, however, had no such worries, and let Brown slowly sort himself out.

  
The odd angles and bulges under Brown’s suit settled, and he looked first at Black, and then to you. He stared at you for a long time.  
And then you realized.

  
_Brown groaned_?! What.

  
You looked to Black, he didn’t look at you.

You looked to Brown, who was still looking at you. You let go of Thomas for a second and stepped forward, gently wrapping your arms around Brown in a small, and awkwardly positioned hug. He didn’t hug you back, but that was okay.

  
“What happened?” you murmured quietly.  
And to your surprise, and Black surprise, Brown spoke.

  
His voice was deeper than Black’s, a soft baritone. It was flat and unexpressive, but he could speak? You were so confused, you didn’t catch what he said. Only Black's response,

  
“So you ate it?” Brown nodded, and pulled a piece of crystal from one of his pockets. Just from first glance, you could tell this crystal was different. Instead of the soft light blues of the trees, this crystal looked infected and red, a sluggish sort of look running under its cloudy surface. He explained that this crystal was what was coming out of 'it', whatever it was.

  
You regret missing what Brown's description had been now, but you still couldn’t help but think on the fact that he could speak. That meant he had to of eaten something with knowledge of the human language, English in particular. Did this have something to do with the humans previously on the planet? If you stayed here, what would become of you and the crew?

  
Before you left to let everyone know Brown was alright and awake, you asked them how they wanted to pass off Brown knowing how to talk suddenly. Black shrugged it off, telling both you and Brown to keep it a secret. You nodded, and gestured for Thomas to follow you. 

  
Instead, your kid quickly latched himself to Brown’s legs and refused to leave. When you tried to pull him away, he just whined, and if you tried to speak to him, he ignored you.

Sighing, you looked at the other two. Black shrugged once again, and Brown waved you off, patting Thomas fondly on the head.

  
Nodding, you left with the news that Brown was awake and well. You may not have heard about what had attacked yet, but now that you knew it involved crystals, you would spread the word and keep everyone away from the trees as a precaution. Hopefully this would help you avoid any further injuries to what you considered your team. 

  
The name of the game was survival, and you would win. For everyone.


	16. A lot of things happen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You are alone for once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to write for a long time, but with the time change I have been so exhausted, and social obligations just keep holding me back D: 
> 
> Anyway, slightly longer chapter, so I hope you enjoy! I've never written action before, but I tried to keep it realistic. I hope I succeeded a lil bit

The days were passing slowly, with less to do with what felt like every passing hour.

Thomas was refusing to leave Brown's side as he recovered, so you often left him in med bay with Brown and Black permission. They both agreed to keep a close eye on him and protect him if anything were to happen. With this free time to yourself, you felt a bit lost.

  
The crew now knew some information on what happened. To keep up appearances of his muteness, he'd drawn a very rough picture of what it was he encountered, and you really couldn’t say what it was. If the colours, shape of the lines, and general energy of the image was to be believed, you pictured something like a feral dog, with dull grey fur, and spikey red crystals protruding from its shoulders and mouth, with long claws and pointy joints. If that was what attacked, you sure as hell hoped they didn’t travel in packs like earthen wolves.

  
Yellow was still a bit withdrawn. You spent more time together with her and Orange in your spare time, and they were doing fine- just extremely shaken. Yellow, obviously because of the encounter, and Orange, because he nearly lost his long time best friend.

  
Other than that, life on the ship went on. Purple and Red could often be found together, Purple having taken the roll of Red's caretaker despite them not always getting along. Green was a bit of a free spirit, acting as buffer between Purple and Red, having fun with Orange and Yellow, socializing with Brown , Black, and yourself. You would say you were closer then the average crew; especially with your current status as shipwrecked on a strange planet, potentially with killer dogs.

  
Still, today was strange, and you were alone.

The air felt odd, a strange buzzing tension lying just underneath what you, as a human, were able to sense. It felt stifling, and you decided you needed to get some fresh air.

You quickly told a passing Green where you were headed- not outside, just to stand near the open hole in the ship. You hoped a breath of cold air would settle your nerves. 

  
You didn’t even know what was bothering you; the quiet? Not having your child to tag along? Were you lonely? No, it wasn’t any of those things. You felt…restless. Not physically, but something in the air was making your internals squirm and give you a horrible feeling.

  
It was keeping you watchful. No one else on the ship seemed to be having this feeling. In fact, everyone you’d seen that day had been pleasantly relaxed. Still, not you.

  
So you sat on a crate near the hole in the wall. You could feel the chill seeping in from outside, and for a moment you lifted your visor to take a deep breath. It felt nice, but didn’t settle you in the least. Reattaching your visor, you slumped, eyes on what you could see out of the hole; which was a lot of dirt and moss.

  
At least it was pretty. The moss itself still retained its teal colour, which was surprising since the weather was gradually changing. The dirt offset the moss by being a rusty red colour, making both stand out against each other. If you weren’t feeling so odd, you would be admiring it more.

  
Your leg jigged in your uncomfortable restlessness, and you suddenly felt the urge to move, so you did. Climbing out, you scaled the side of the Skeld to sit at the very top of the crash site. Sitting at the highest point was beautiful, and you took a moment to admire it. You could see much further than usual, and the sky was a clear dusty pink, as usual. Very rarely did you see clouds when you were outside on this planet.

  
The crystal trees reached higher still, some, the largest, reaching far into the sky; it reminded you vaguely of the times you’d visited cities, with their tall reflective skyscrapers. Beautiful in different ways, but beautiful all the same. Seeing the world like this nearly made you forget what you were trying to hide from.

  
You stayed up there, lost in thought, until you heard your name being called from below. Carefully, you made to climb down, shouting a quick response so they would know. Out of the corner of your eye- you saw it.

  
In the far distance, a small gleam of red- as if the light were refracting just right to shine in your direction.

  
Pausing in your climb, you tried squinting to see into the distance. You couldn’t, as expected, but you could see a strange shape ducking in and out of the far off valleys. If your eyes were correct, it was a dull shade of blue- almost dark grey, and very faintly you could see remnants of red scattered throughout it.

  
It was the creature, and it was coming closer. Dimly you thought your colour must stand out to it, being bright pink. The realization made you climb down faster, and you neatly dropped the last few feet to land on your feet. Inside the hole of the ship, you spotted Green.

  
Waving him away, you hurried your way through the ship. Green sputtered for a moment before following after you, saying something you couldn’t hear. The blood was rushing through your ears, and you admitted to yourself that you were scared. If the thing was coming here, if it could damage your impostors that way, there was no telling what it could do to the rest of the crew. In your mind, you were nearly defenseless to this new threat.

  
When you slid to a stop, it was in front of med bay. No one else was there, except for the three boys you were looking for. Your boys.

  
Taking a deep breath, you announced your reasons for arriving as you did, out of breath and sweaty. “ I saw something out there, in the distance. I think it’s the creature tracking us.”

  
Brown was stiff immediately, and Black, with Thomas still on his shoulders, tensed slightly as well. “You’re sure?”

  
You nodded, “I saw the red in the distance, it was moving in our direction. The drawing we have matches the colours and shape.” 

  
Black squared up, sharing a glance with Brown as he did so, as if he thought you wouldn’t notice. Passing Thomas off to you, you held your boy close. 

  
“I’ll go check it out.” Black decided, and you desperately wanted to stop him. From your place beside Brown’s bed, Brown set a hand on your shoulder in comfort. Quietly, he muttered in his deep baritone,

  
“Don’t worry, Pink. Black is…” here he paused, clicking in his through slightly as he thought out his sentence, “Black is experienced.”

  
You gazed into Brown’s helmet, wanting to trust him. You nodded, then looked again to Black, who was now close to the door, ready to leave. “You be careful, Black. If you see anyone on your way, tell them to hide if things get worse.”

  
Black nodded. You were sure he at least would run into Green again. Last you saw, Red and Purple were in the cafeteria, and Yellow and Orange were scouring the barracks for something to do. You hoped this was far enough from the entrance to avoid anything that might happen in the next few moments.

  
Ultimately, you didn’t want anything to happen. In an optimal situation, it would’ve been a trick of the eye, and Black would come back and laugh it off. Worst case, everyone dies.

  
You sat heavily on the bed Brown was still resting on. You cradled Thomas in your arms, and he chirruped happily at you. Petting his head, you looked slightly over your shoulder at Brown. “How’re you holding up, Brown?”

  
Brown, still getting used to the idea of speaking, first half raised his hand to give a thumbs up before pausing and clearing his throat. Looking awkwardly at his hands, he murmured a quiet, “I am fine.” 

  
Oh, and wasn’t that cute. Brown was voice shy. You supposed after so long of being silent around humans, it made sense. It was pretty sudden that he was able to speak.

  
You had a thought suddenly. 

  
If Brown could talk…that meant he had to have eaten the last thing that tried to attack them. That meant this one that you just saw in the distance was a different one. There was more than one. If this was their planet, there could be hundreds, or thousands! You felt a shiver go down your spine at the thought. 

  
Brown rested a hand on your shoulder again, and you felt the tension in your shoulders drain away; tension you hadn’t even know was there. If push came to shove, you would fight, as always, but there was no weapons available on the Skeld, the only ones being the deactivated guns used to destroy meteors. Even then, they were too big and too heavy to maneuver into a position even remotely useful. 

  
Brown shifted beside you, moving to stand. You tried to stop him, but with an armful of Thomas, there was little you could do. Brown stood on his own two feet, and shuffled towards the med bay doors. You assumed he couldn’t just sit still and let Black do the work, or perhaps he wanted to warn the others.

  
Fortunately, while you were following Brown’s slow pace, you spotted Orange and Yellow. Stopping them in the hall, you crouched down to set Thomas down, as well as be eye level with him when you spoke. “Hey kiddo, listen, I’m going to send you with Yellow and Orange, okay? I have to stay with Brown and make sure he's going to be fine, but it’s very important you stay hidden with Yellow and Orange.”

  
Thomas whined and clung to you, but you gently extracted yourself from him, “Now, now, none of that. I’ll be back before you know it.” 

  
As you thanked Yellow and Orange for agreeing to this, you clinked your helmet against your boy's in a mock kiss. You knew he would behave, but only if you came back in one piece. You could do this, no problem.

  
You hurried after Brown again, who hadn’t slowed down in the slightest. Still, his hobble was so slow it was no issue for you to regain your place at his side. 

  
Eventually, you made it back to the outside, and what you saw horrified you. Standing in the not so far distance was Black, tense, prepared. You could tell his limbs were moving oddly under his suit, and you wondered what you were about to witness.

  
In the even further distance, the creature was galloping on all fours towards you, it’s hind legs taller than its front. From this distance, you could see small details about the beast, and damn did the drawing not do it justice. 

  
It’s skin was a leathery pale blue, broken in places to reveal either red crystals, or to seep a liquid similar in colour. Its skin was cracked and disfigured, and the face of the beast was clearly deranged. With wide gaping eye sockets and a mouth full of the same sharp red crystals that Brown had drawn in the others.

  
It was then, you realized, that Brown had the art skills of a toddler.

  
Although, you didn’t have the time to focus on that fact as the beast came closer and closer. And the closer it got, the more you could see.

  
Claws that protruded from a five fingered hand, and oddly shaped back feet. A neck that was mostly mouth, but grotesquely long, just like the rest of the creature.

  
It was completely bald, and naked, though thankfully you didn’t see anything scarring.

As it got closer still, it screamed.

  
And screamed.

  
The sound it made was horrendous, and if it weren’t for your helmet muffling the sound, you would have found a way to tear off your ears. It was ear piercing, you could feel it in your bones and teeth; like trying to bite a penny while simultaneously scrapping nails on a chalkboard.

  
As it leapt to tackle Black, you realized something crucial.

  
This creature…was once human.

  
You saw it in its body shape, it’s skull, skin, and face. In the way it’s fingers curled and clawed, and the way it’s legs didn’t look quite right when running on all fours. You knew this deep in your heart with every detail- it was once human.

  
Black, of course, was ready for the tackle, and before your very eyes, his body flowed and expanded. Nearly twice his original size, Black punched the thing in the jaw.

  
You gasped, and that was a mistake. Not only did it distract Black for a crucial moment, it also attracted the creature's attention. The stillness that followed was quickly interrupted as it leapt towards you instead, it’s unholy screech continuing.

  
This was when Brown also reacted, bulking up in a similar manner to Black. While not physically hitting the creature, he did expand his body to cover you, like a shield.

  
From behind you, you heard another gasp, this one, in horror.

  
Turning slowly, you spotted him. Green.  
He was looking at all of you with his hands covering his mouth. Behind his mask, you assumed his eyes were wide with horror and surprise. He now knew. He knew about both your boys being impostors, and knew the beast was here as well. Before you could stop him, he ran.

  
The screeching, meanwhile, came to an abrupt halt, breaking off into a growl, and then a whine, and there was a crunching noise from behind you. Fearing the worst, you turned back to Brown and Black, and around Brown's elbow you could barely see what’d happened.

  
When you did see, you took a step back in shock.

  
Black had transformed yet again, both of his arms forming sharp spike-like tentacles. They had pierced through the creature, wrapping around it to hold it in place. It was shedding crystals now, and you could see some of them poking through Black's arms. It screamed again, trying to bite at the offending appendages.

  
You had to think fast. Brown and Black would be fine here, you could see that now, but Green posed a different danger entirely. He was about to tell the crew about your boys and their affliction, so instead of standing around to watch the fight, you turned and ran the opposite way, back into the Skeld and after Green. He would be heading to the cafeteria, and his head start meant you would most definitely be too late, but you could hope to reach him and explain.

  
Hopefully you could explain the nature of Brown and Black before they got lynched by your crew. You hoped with all your heart they could understand, and forgive. Not just the impostors, but you as well for lying to them, hiding what could have potentially wiped them all out.


	17. Emergency Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You suffer through an emotionally charged meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longer than normal chapter :D hope you all enjoy, I had fun with the dialogue here. Tried to really hit home with the emotions. Let me know what you think!

As you predicted, you didn’t catch up to Green. The emergency alarm rang through both the ship, and your short range comm system, creating a loud and obnoxious echo.

As you ran into the cafeteria, you realized you were going too fast, and toppled directly into Green, who landed heavily on you.

  
For a moment, there was a struggle of too many limbs in too many places, and you felt like a turtle stuck on its back. As people trickled into the cafeteria, you tried your best to right both yourself and Green.

  
Once you were both at least on your knees and had your balance, you ignored those who entered (Purple and Red), and took Green by the shoulders. In your desperation and panic, you near shouted in hysteria, “Green, you have to understand! They’re friendly! Don’t do this!”

  
You tried to keep a hold of Green, but he managed to shake you off and get to his feet. He pointed at you accusingly, “No, Pink! You knew this whole time, you’ve been covering for them! They killed! You’re a traitor!” 

  
You sat with your knees under you, your hands still extended as if you grab at Green again. Before you could say anything, Red interrupted, and you finally realized the whole crew (sans Black and Brown) was there, watching. You felt the slow tendrils of dread curl in your gut, and the sharp pangs of anxiety in your arms and throat.

  
“What’s going on here? What happened to Brown and Black?” immediately this wasn’t going as you intended. None of it was; if it were up to you, Green never would have seen. Would never have found out.

  
You sat, slumped to the floor in defeated silence as Green told the crew. There was nothing you could do to stop him now.

  
While you wallowed in your own misery, your baby boy, Thomas, came up to you, kneeling so that you could see your reflection in his mask. You tried to perk up for him, but the amount of hopelessness you felt was hard to cope with. Still, you gathered him in your arms when he let out a quiet, “Mama?”

  
You ignored the others briefly to comfort your boy. He must've been so scared with the emergency- and not being around one of the three he was most comfortable with- you felt bad for leaving him with Yellow and Orange.

  
Silently, you prayed the crew, your friends, would be understanding enough to let Brown and Black stay. You didn’t know what you would do without them, and the thought that that might happen hurt.

  
You clutched tightly to your boy as Green turned to point a hostile finger at you again, and you suddenly remembered that you should at least be listening to the fate of you and your closest companions, “—and she knew it all along! She knew and she covered for them! White and Blue died because of them!”

  
Wasn’t Green supposed to be one of the friendly ones? You hunched and stiffened, still sat on the floor. Your thoughts flowed through your head rapidly. What were you doing, wallowing in misery? You should be standing up for yourself. You hadn’t lived this long as a crewmate only to be excommunicated now. 

  
And besides, weren’t Black and Brown now fighting for everyone’s survival? Didn’t you owe it to them to defend them, when they themselves couldn't?

  
Thomas still gripped in your arms, you steeled your emotions and stood, directing your newly determined glare at Green.

  
“How _dare_ you, Green? They’re our friends! Brown and Black have done nothing but be nice, and here you are, ready to throw them under the bus and call it a day! What will you do, throw them to the wilds? Have them freeze to death on a strange planet because you can’t just throw them into space? 

  
You’re _despicable_ ,” you spat the words like venom as you continued to rant, “they’re both out there fighting that creature for you, for us! They could _die_ , and for what? An ungrateful person like you! They’re trying to save all our lives!” you panted in your righteous anger.

How dare Green, after all the crew had been through? If your arms weren’t full of your child, you would be throttling him, no doubt.

  
Before Green, or anyone had a chance to reply, you turned sharply on your heel, barking over your shoulder at the rest of the crew, “Now, I’m going to set up the med bay for when they return. If I hear one _peep_ of any of you bad-mouthing them or trying to get rid of them, I will come after you.”

  
As you briskly walked out of the cafeteria, you heard a low whistle, and what could only be Orange's voice release a drawn out, “ _Damn_.”

  
Green better watch himself. You weren’t lying when you said you would take on any who tried to boot out your boys. They were saving all your lives. They should be grateful. Your impostors were good people.

  
As you arrived at med bay and set Thomas on one of the beds, you lost the wind in your sails. Letting out a gusty sigh, you crouched in front of your baby boy, “Thomas, sweetie, if anyone says anything bad about Brown or Black, don’t listen to them, okay honey? They’re just being mean and don’t understand.” You stroked the side of his helmet as he nodded his understanding. After a few seconds, his timid voice echoed in the room,

  
“Are we…bad?” Oh, your baby sounded so heartbroken. You couldn’t resist hugging him to your chest.

  
“No honey, not at all. You and Brown and Black are all very good people. My favourites. If anyone ever tells you otherwise, you tell me okay? Momma'll take care of them.” Take care of them as in- probably beat them to death. No harm would come to your baby boy. If there was a threat to him, you would eliminate it without thought.

  
Well, if it was a threat you could handle. However, Brown and Black seemed more than capable of handling things on a more dangerous scale.

  
As Thomas snuggled against you, you barely registered the fact that you were counting on Brown and Black to stick around for you and your boy. You just assumed that now that you had each other and cared for each other, that you would always be together with them. You were dependant on them. You couldn’t imagine going back to Earth and taking care of Thomas by yourself.

  
You realized you couldn’t imagine a future without either of them, and when you tried, it made your heart ache. You couldn’t help but hate the complexity of human emotion- how easily it was to care for someone without noticing how deeply until it was too late. You hoped they were alright.

  
You heard the commotion outside med bay before you saw it. You could hear shouting, mostly Green's voice, a little bit of Orange, and…Yellow? You attempted to listen closer.

  
You still couldn’t hear well, but if the tones were anything to go by, Green was still throwing a fit, Orange was defending Yellow, and Yellow was defending you and the two adult impostors. They passed the med bay, but didn’t enter. For perhaps the first time, you didn’t feel safe on the ship.

  
You wondered what the other two on the ship felt, Red and Purple. Multiple times the impostors had helped them both, had socialized with both. Would they feel the same as Green? You had a feeling Red would, at least, but Purple could swing either way. You hoped beyond hopes that it would be in your favour.

  
When both Black and Brown stumbled into med bay, both supporting each other and the dead body of the creature, you relaxed. They weren’t so injured, thankfully. They had some oozing wounds from what looked like bite marks, a scratch here and there, but nothing life threatening. A good cleaning and they would be fine.

  
You turned your attention to the creature between them. It was lanky and limp, clearly dead. You supposed they were thinking of Purple when they brought it inside- so they could run scans and find out just what exactly it was and where it had spawned from.

  
You moved from your place beside Thomas to make room for them. They threw the body in the corner furthest from you, and almost immediately you and Thomas were swamped with more arms than you could handle. A great big group hug that lasted a few minutes ensued. Unfortunately, you had to break the relieved silence with your bad news.

  
“Black, Brown… Green knows about you. He called that emergency meeting earlier, he, he wants to throw you out of the ship.”

They withdraw from you as you spoke, you noticed you now had a few splotches of red on your otherwise pristine pink suit. Something to worry about later- For now, you had to focus on your boys and the situation with Green.

  
Black was the first to speak, as always.

Brown, while having the ability to talk now, was still uncomfortable with verbal communication. “And what of the rest of the crew?” 

  
You shook your head, “I’m not sure. I know Yellow at least supports us a little,” if they could see you, they would know you had an uncomfortable look on your face, “What are we going to do?”

  
Black put both his hands on your shoulders, while Brown peered over his shoulder and into your mask. It was a reassuring weight, but the lingering anger and anxiety were still there. “Don’t worry about us, alright? Just do whatever will keep you and Thomas safe.”

  
“And what if that’s staying with you, no matter what?”

  
“Then we'll take it as it comes. Don’t worry, Pink. Everything will work out fine, I know it.” Brown was nodding along as well, and he grabbed your hand to give it a reassuring squeeze. Finally, Brown spoke,

  
“We’ll protect you, Pink. Both of you.” You felt warm on the inside, and rose the hand not being held by Brown to cover Black’s hand. You squeezed them both, and Thomas clung to the side of your legs.

  
Of course, the moment had to be ruined by the door opening with a hiss. All three of your heads turned simultaneously to look at the intruder. It was Purple, and he fidgeted at the door briefly before taking a few steps into the med bay. “I saw a bit of blood…thought I’d come check on you all…?”

  
Was this Purple showing his support? Or another plot to convince the impostors to leave? Nonetheless, you knew Black and Brown needed minor medical attention, so you untangled your hands, and pulled Thomas out of the way. Still, you would stay and hold vigil for any kind of suspicious behaviour on Purple's part.

  
He worked in silence, and Black and Brown let him. You could feel the nervous energy blooming around Purple, and there was nothing you could do, nothing you could say to make him feel better. 

  
After he finished bandaging the last of the impostors wounds, he fidgeted once more, before blurting, “They’re putting it to a vote. For whether you can stay or not. I’m sorry. Pink, they didn’t tell you because they’re lumping you all together. I’m sorry, I tried to stop them.”

  
Your dread returned full force, but you forced a nod. You forced yourself to act understanding. Purple didn’t deserve your anger- it was fully reserved for Green.

  
If they were lumping you all together…did that mean Thomas could, would be sent into the wilds as well? Frankly, you wouldn’t trust him with the crew. He needed to stay with you, you needed to hide what he was from them.

  
Purple left, hunched and scurrying. You now sat in silence, just the four of you. For a few moments, your mind raced with possibilities.

  
“If they kick us out... I should get supplies ready.” The air was heavy with the solemnity of your words. You ushered Thomas into Brown’s waiting arms and heading out to find rations and water. The ship still had a good supply of both, so you would bring as much as you could. Your impostors had their own diet and needs, most already taken care of, so you only needed to worry about yourself.   
You avoided the cafeteria, instead heading to the barracks where you knew there was a secondary food and water storage unit.

Thankfully, it looked like everyone was away at their secret meeting. The thought made your gut curl in disgust; hatred flowed freely through your veins, burning like hot magma under your skin. You couldn’t forgive Green.

  
You thought he was your friend.

  
You packed in angry silence, and as you worked, your anger turned to despair. It took all of your self control not to burst into tears. You thought he was your friend. None of you deserved this. Black and Brown hadn’t killed anyone, that’d been all you and Thomas. 

  
They were paying the price now. Would it have been the same if everyone in the crew lived? Ugh. 

  
A tear escaped the corner of your eye, and you had to lift your visor to rub it away. Angry crying, you hated yourself for it. Now was not the time, you told yourself.

  
Not knowing how much time you had left aboard the ship- because you were nearly certain they’d vote you off, you packed quickly. In record time you were back in med bay with the others. There was an oddly comforting humming noise coming from Brown, and Black was resting with his back to the wall, still standing. Thomas, of course, was practically a puddle in Brown's lap, looking even cuter and squishier than usual.

The two adults looked at you as you entered, and as you got closer to the trio, you noticed Thomas letting out a low purr as well. Huh, so adorable. You didn’t know he could make a noise like that- it reminded you of your childhood cat.

  
The air was still solemn, but you realized one thing; the three of you, plus your child, were a functioning team. If anything were to happen to any of you, you believed you could make it, no doubt. You felt a glimmer of optimism among your dread and despair. You truly appreciated your boys; you would do anything for them.

  
You waited for a while in heavy, suspenseful silence, before your short range comms kicked into life, Red's voice echoing in your helmet.

  
“Pink, Brown, and Black. We have put your status of impostor to a vote, and the results are as such: you are ordered to leave the ship immediately. You are not to have contact with those in the crew. Please proceed out of the ship within the next thirty minutes.”

  
Your shoulders slumped, but you pressed your fingers to the side of your helmet to respond. Before you could say a word, Black grabbed your write and shook his head, raising his own hand to activate his comm.

“Roger that, Red. We will leave post haste.”  
As soon as his hand lifted from the comm, you collapsed in his arms, burying your helmet in the junction where his suit met helmet. You didn’t sob, or shed any tears, just held onto Black briefly.

  
You did sigh heavily though, and as if you weighed a great amount, moved toward where Brown and Thomas sat.

You pet your baby boy's back gently, and the purring increased. Gently, you asked, “How d'you feel about an adventure, huh, buddy?”  
Thomas absentmindedly nodded, and you stood, arms crossing in front of you as you thought of your dilemma. 

Well, if anything it was a good excuse to find a way off this forsaken planet. Perhaps find the other humans? Civilization? It was a chance to get help, at any rate. You would try to keep optimistic for your boys. They didn’t need someone bringing them down when they’ve already been kicked off a ship where they assumed everyone thought them as friends.

  
Placing your hands on your hips, you let your mood take a turn for the better for the first time that day, “Well, let's get going then. Sooner we leave, the sooner we can find shelter.”

  
Black and Brown nodded, Brown holding onto Thomas as the boy sleepily rested against his shoulder. You had everything you thought you would need; now all’s you needed was to focus on the path ahead.

  
On your way out of the ship, you spotted Yellow peeking from around a corner, Orange clearly in her shadow. Her shoulders were sad and slumped, his stiff and agitated.

Yellow sniffled loudly as she waved at you. You waved back, briefly lifting your visor to give her a sad smile. She voted for you to stay, you knew it. You hoped she could see the understanding in your eyes as you departed.

  
Leaving the ship felt surreal. Outside didn’t seem like the same place anymore. It felt suffocating, more dangerous. Your brain immediately prioritized shelter.

  
The four of you were silent on your trek out. You unanimously chose a direction. Your journey had begun.


	18. The Walking Stick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You walk, and walk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, an update is here! It recently snowed quite a bit in my area, so it inspired this chapter \\(๑╹◡╹๑)ﾉ♬
> 
> Also sorry for the delay! I totally didn't mean for this to take two weeks. I've been having a bit of a rough time and I've basically slept all my free time away. Forgive me Ó╭╮Ò
> 
> Love you all 💕

A day into the wilds and things weren’t so bad. You ate your food sparingly, even though you felt half starved already; you’d found a small cave to shelter in, though 'cave' was a bit of an exaggeration. It was more like a steep indent on the side of a hill.

  
You could still see the Skeld in the far off distance, which helped keep your overall direction. The current plan between the three of you was to travel as much as possible, take shelter when available, and hope for the best.

  
You could say that now that the 'searching' wasn’t on a time limit during the day, you could potentially find what the group had been looking for all along. A town? Another ship? The only thing you hoped not to find was the hideout of those creepy creatures. That was exactly what you wanted to avoid. 

  
Though, thinking on it, you did have the two strongest crew members with you. You would be able to handle it, sure, but you didn’t have the resources to take care of injuries anymore. You would have to be careful. Things were sketchy enough with the wounds both Brown and Black had from the previous encounter. Plus, you had your young'un with you- a weak link, you mused. Protecting Thomas was of utmost importance, on that you were sure Brown and Black would agree. 

  
You tried to keep your chin up for your boy, despite the despair eating away at your gut like a parasite. Getting up and staying active was difficult, but you did it for him, for all of them. You refused to be the one holding them back when you could be just as active and helpful. You tried your best not to worry them, though Brown seemed to hover a bit anyway. 

  
On the second day, you resolved to turn the track into a bit of a game for your little one. You taught him a basic human game, I-Spy, and soon enough all four of you were in on it. Most of the time the answer was crystal- but the three of you tried to be increasingly creative with your descriptions to keep Thomas occupied. 

  
To keep him from falling behind as well, Brown and Black were taking turns lifting his little body on their shoulders, and every time you heard their laughter your heart bloomed with warmth. Behind your mask, you couldn’t keep yourself from smiling to yourself. 

  
Eventually, you even found a crystal equivalent of a walking stick- or maybe a spear? The Shard of crystal was long and thin, with sharp ends on either side. You didn’t know what could have possibly shaved this tiny sliver off one of the trees, but it made walking for you more enjoyable, somehow. Like an ingrained human instinct to pick up a stick and walk with it just made you a happier person. Brown verbalized that it was strange, and Black hummed in agreement, but you shrugged off the embarrassment with the satisfaction of your find.

  
Besides, who knew when you would need a pointy stick to weaponized? It wasn’t like you could suddenly burst into a thousand tentacles and teeth at any given moment.

  
Soon enough, you couldn’t see the crash site of the Skeld anymore. It send a wave of uncomfortable feelings through you- you were unsettled, scared, but not alone. Your companions had confidence in you, and so you felt your own self confidence rise in response. 

  
With no wood to burn, and no way to set fire to the mossy grass, the nights were bitterly cold. Of course you had two personal heaters on either side of you, but still the chilly bite of cold weather managed to snake it’s way inside your suit at all waking hours, and unfortunately you didn’t have time to layer up before you were booted out. 

  
So there was a little bit of rush to find something, anything, if only so you didn’t pass away due to hypothermia. 

  
As the nights got colder, your pace picked up, and then it snowed.

  
Since arriving at this planet, there’d been no weather except for dull sunshine that kept the sky a beautiful shade of pink and purple.

Now, as dark clouds rolled in, and snow started to fall, you couldn't help but stop and stare as the thick flakes came down around you. On Earth, this was beautiful. On this planet? Stunning.

  
The light from the crystal forest shone off the snowflakes in a bewitching and mesmerizing display, the snowflakes tinted a kaleidoscopic range of blues and greens. It reminded you of the snowstorms at home, looking out your window at the streetlights and the warm glow they emitted. For this sight, you didn’t mind the cold further seeping into your bones.

  
That night, you’d thankfully found a deeper cave to rest in. Black, the least injured of you, wandered all the way to the back to make sure it was secure and void of danger. With his okay, the rest of you moved in, and still you couldn’t keep your eyes off the snow that still drifted lazily down from the heavens.

  
It seemed all three of the impostors were equally distracted by it- Thomas had crawled into your lap not long after you’d settled down, and you hugged him to yourself, slowing rocking him back and forth as you stared out into the unknown. Brown and Black, likewise, joined you. Brown curiously sticking his hand into the falling snow to catch a few flakes. He watched as it melted into water against his glove.

  
Black was the first to break the comfortable silence, “We don’t have snow where we're from. No weather at all…just the ever stretching darkness of space.”

  
You glanced at him, and then back out to the outside, “That sounds very sad and lonely.”

  
Black hummed and nodded, leaning an elbow on his knee, and his head in his hand. He was a picture of nonchalance, but you still saw the undercurrent of stiffness across his shoulders. Brown, too, was a bit rigid. “Are you two alright?”

  
“Fine.” “I’m alright.” They spoke at the same time, and you nodded your head, not quite satisfied with their answers, but you’d take it all the same. If something was truly wrong, you hoped they would tell you.

  
In your lap, a quiet snore arose from the youngest of you. Internally, you squealed at the cuteness of it.

  
With Thomas asleep, the three of you moved further back into the cave, resting against the wall in your customary sleeping position.

Sleeping while sitting was a little more difficult for you, but at this point lying on the ground just kept you frozen all night long, so you much preferred to be snuggled and sitting between your boys, the only cold seeping through your pants. It was difficult to fall asleep, as always, but with the strange change in atmosphere with the snow, you managed.

  
The next morning you awoke to sounds of laughter. One side of you was cold, and as you slowly came into waking, you realized Black and Thomas were both gone, while Brown still rested at your side, though awake.

  
As you tilted your head to the side, Brown made a quiet sound, so you looked at him, “The little one wanted to play in the snow. I decided to stay and keep you warm, Black is accompanying Thomas. I hope you slept well.” 

  
Brown was still an awkward talker, but oh he was unbearably cute in this moment. The white from the entrance of the cave lightened his suit and visor, and you swear you could almost see the outline of his face and eyes in the lighting. His speech was formal and to the point, and you couldn’t help but smile despite his inability to see it.

  
“Thank you, Brown! How about we get up and join them?” he nodded, and stood, helping you up in the process. Once standing, you finally got a glance at the outside, the mouth of the cave blazing a brilliant white.

  
As you made it to the entrance, Brown behind you, you saw that the world literally sparkled. The fresh dusting of slow was near ankle deep, and seemed to not be stopping any time soon. Bending down, you ran your fingers through the snow and had an idea. The consistency was just right. It was packing snow.

  
So, grabbing Brown’s hand, you ran out to join Thomas and Black, both of whom were throwing the snow around. You called out to them, “Hey you two! Wanna build a snowman?”

  
They both froze, but Thomas rushed you soon enough, jumping giddily around your legs, “Mama, mama, what’s a snowman?”

  
So, glancing at the other two, you thought you all could use this break to play in the snow and be happy. You all needed this after the hardships of the past couple weeks.

  
You taught them how to build snowmen, and little snow impostors, and even a small snowfort. You spent the day frolicking in the untouched white expanse before you, occasionally flopping down to make a snow angel. 

  
This is exactly what you needed to relax, and thankfully, everyone agreed.

  
Tomorrow, you would continue your journey with a lighter heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Btw, if anyone has any prompts or ideas they want to seen written, hit me up! I need the writing practice and I'd be happy to write for anyone.
> 
> The one thing I hate about AO3 is it doesn't have a messaging system, so.
> 
> You can reach me on instagram at ExcuWrites, I posted a list of fandoms as well, for anyone interested ╰(⸝⸝⸝´꒳`⸝⸝⸝)╯ 
> 
> We are all friends here!


	19. The Skeld

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You walk, and walk, and see a speck in the distance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I had a bit of writer's block, but I did it, I wrote the chapter!! I am super excited for the next one.
> 
> I've been drawing a lot of among us art, if you want to check it out you can look me up at @Excuwrites on instagram.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!!

It took your group another five days to find anything of interest. By this point, your food was running a bit low, and you were rationing more than ever before. You spotted once you twice, Brown and Black shooting you concerned looks.

The hunger, on top of the exhaustion, was getting to you. At this rate, you probably had about another four days worth of food. Before that time, you were hoping to at least find a better source.

You would have dug into the ground for that edible mossy substance, but unfortunately, the snow hadn’t let up, the weather was a nightmare, and the ground remained frozen solid. You could melt the snow to drink, but you were a little concerned with what that could do to you- or if it was safe.

This far into the wild, and still not an animal in sight. For days, it was the same old same old- snow, crystals, snow, crystals. If you didn’t have your boy and friends to ground you, you were sure you would go insane. The only way you knew you weren’t going in circle was the tracks on the ground, and the different crystal formations you would see every once in a while.

As you walked, you stuck close to Black for warmth. Brown was also nearby- carrying Thomas, who’d been sleeping an awful lot the past day or so. You brought your concerns to them, but they both said not to worry. “He’s going through a growth spurt, it’s normal for our species to sleep a lot during this time.”

And didn’t that spark a whole other set of worries? A growth spurt? You asked them what to expect.

“Don’t worry, not much will change. He’s been feeling off for a while now- that’s due to him assimilating his form appropriately. You may have noticed that he can split his suit for his stomach- that’s part of it. He’ll just have some better control, and maybe better vocabulary, grow a bit.”

You nodded along with what Black was saying. It made sense, you suppose. You did see something similar when your child ate White; and didn’t that seem so long ago? You’d lost track of the days.

So your kid was going to go from a child, to a slightly larger child. You were fine with this, and idly wondered if you’d be able to carry him around still. Both Brown and Black didn’t seem to have a problem, but you knew both of them were unnaturally strong compared to a human. You supposed, not being able to carry your child anymore was just part of growing up and life.

And that brought you to this moment. You saw it first, while everyone was taking a short break. A dark spot on the horizon, partially covered in snow, but still dark enough to stand out against the otherwise white landscape. It still looked about a days walk away, but it was a goal, and the three of you adults put your heads together to speculate what it could possibly be. From here, it was but a speck.

Could it possibly be what you were searching for? A village? People?

It took you just over a day and a half to come close enough to see what exactly it was; the horror that coursed through you at the discovered shot right from your fingertips and straight to your toes, fuzzing your mind momentarily as you registered what you were seeing before you.

A ship. The Skeld.

But not _The_ Skeld. A Skeld. It looked near identical to you ship, minus the angle of the crash, but it was similar enough. As you creeped closer, hand grasping Thomas’ tightly in case of emergency, you saw that it was near overgrown, half hurried in the mossy dirt, with small luminous crystals starting to grow from it.

You glanced to Black and Brown uneasily, and they did the same. Black was a little more nonchalant, gesturing towards the hull, where a large crack in the metal resided, “Only one way to find out who’s inside.” _Or what,_ went unspoken.

You nodded, and Black went in first. As the most fit at the moment, it was best for him to take the brunt of any potential attack. It then went you, Thomas, and Brown bringing up the rear.

As you gazed around the near identical Skeld, you felt the air in the ship change. It was as if it were coming to life, the silence buzzing ominously, each creak of metal sounding loudly in the empty space.

Your footsteps, no matter how lightly you tried to tred, sounded intrusive and loud to your ears. The others, no doubt, were having the same problem.

As you got closer and closer to the cafeteria, the large center of the ship, you noticed an odd glow coming from it. You brought your child closer as you watched Black peer in.

You saw, in the blank reflection of his mask, what horrors lie before you.

The red crystals, shining brightly against the black. A limp arm from around a table. That was as much as you could see, but you were afraid. Black slowly turned his head towards you, and then Brown. He tilted his head towards the door to signal he was going in, and put his finger to approximately where his lips would be, to signify silence.

He creeped in slowly, gently. You desperately wanted to get closer to watch his every move, but you were afraid if you moved now, it would cause a domino effect and get Black injured, or worse. You glanced at Brown. Slowly, silently, he rested his hand on your shoulder. A grounding touch.

After what felt like forever, Black came back, less silent and less crouched. Still, he spoke quietly, “It’s clear, but there are a lot of bodies. I’m going to try to close the doors so nothing can surprise us.”

You nodded. You trusted Black. He beckoned the three of you into the cafeteria, and wandered off to the leftmost hallway, starting with that door. Brown stayed close to you, just in case, and you couldn’t help yourself from glancing nervously into the pitch black of the other hallways. You felt uneasy.

You also took the time to look at the bodies. They weren’t exactly whole, but they were definitely a crew. A blue arm there, a lime torso there. It was gory, and horrifying, and it froze you in place.

The red glow, the crystals, were growing out of the limbs. Brown whispered beside you, “Dead flesh, the crystals must thrive from it.” You nodded. It would make sense why the crystals did not grow anywhere else that you’d seen.

Which begged the question, what were the creatures you’d faced? You tilted your helmet towards Brown, “The creature that you saved Yellow from. You tried to eat it. Was it also…dead flesh?”

Brown nodded, “I got a taste of it, but it got away from me. Dead flesh, disgusting.”

If you were talking about anything else, you may have laughed.

So the crystal was someone keeping dead bodies alive. Could that be why all the bodies in the cafeteria were in pieces? Was it to prevent them from string back up, like a zombie?

You sorely wished you had Purple’s science skills. You wondered, with a pang of loneliness, if he’d examined that head your boys brought back for him.

With a loud creak, the door finally banged into place, the sound of metal on metal reverberating loudly. Thomas jumped, clutching tightly to your leg. As a child, he must be feeling the effects of the fright more than even you.

You crouched down to his level, untangling his hands from your thigh as you did so. “You alright, Hun? I know it’s spooky,” Thomas nodded, his tiny shoulders shaking slightly, “It’s alright though, see?” you gestured towards the direction Brown and Black were in, “we have big strong friends if anything happens. We will be absolutely fine.”

You pulled your little one into your embrace, smiling at the other behind your mask, not that they could tell. You had all the confidence in the world in them that they would protect you both and each other.

You let Thomas hold onto you for as long as he needed before standing. Black had moved on to the second door, and Brown was inching away from you to look at the bodies. Both were tense, and so you and your boy followed after Brown like little ducklings, taking in the horror of the cafeteria as you did.

There were dark splotches of what was probably dried blood everywhere. You wondered if it was possible that a crewmate died, was taken by the crystal, and tore everyone else apart. So far, that looked extremely likely; but how many of them were there? Crew sizes generally were only ten. You only spotted 5 different colours in the pieces at your feet.

Strangely, the sight of the dismembered pieces didn’t make you feel much different. You were horrified, yes, but they were old and shriveled. They almost looked like Halloween props, and if that thought didn’t scare you into realizing how desensitized you were, you didn’t know what would.

Something landed on your shoulder and you squealed in fright, Brown, who was in front of you, immediately whirled around with a hiss, something orangeish glowing behind his visor. You, too, turned your head sharply to see what’d startled you so.

It was just Black. You and Brown sighed collectively in relief.

“apologies, you looked lost in thought. The doors are closed, we’re fine for now.”

You relaxed and nodded.

Then, a thought occurred to you, “Do you think the ship is operational?”

Black hummed for a moment, his hand sliding off your shoulder in a way that made your skin prickle comfortably. He was warm.

“It’s possible, but judging by the looks of how long it’s been here, the fuel may be no good, and we’d have to seal that crack.”

You nodded, the crack was a huge issue, but it was nowhere near as large as the one on your Skeld. “what if we tried to fly it just over the trees, get to the other Skeld, fix it up, and boost out of the planet?”

Black shook his head, “I don’t know. They kicked us out, would we want to save them?”

You huffed lightly, “It was probably majority by one vote. Yellow didn’t want us to go, neither did Purple. I wouldn’t want to leave them here,”

You looked away from them briefly, into the darkness at the corners of the room, “they just did what they thought was right. A survival instinct.”

Black scoffed, but didn’t argue. Behind you, Brown was silent.

Looking around, you spotted a table only soiled by dust. You walked over, pulling your small boy with you, and sat at the table. It felt good to be out of the snow and wind, and perhaps now feeling would return to your limbs.

You wondered if there were any food stores left here. You would have to take a look later. Thankfully the slim crystal you’d been using as a walking stick was handy in the dark, as it acted like a dim blue flashlight. Without it, you would be stuck in the dark, with only the ominous red glow and the bodies for company.

“Tomorrow,” you said to your impostors, “Tomorrow, we’ll look around for supplies and check the engine.”

It was silent, they would help you.


	20. Glow in the Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You explore the ship with your impostors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally finished it! A little later than I wanted, but yay, here it is. 
> 
> Chapter 20!! This feels like a milestone. We're also now the size of a small novel, yay! Proud :''')
> 
> This chapters mood: we stan Brown.
> 
> Enjoy!

As you thought, the very next day was the start of hard work, sweat, and tears.

You woke huddled under Brown’s capable arm, as was usual these days, and as you stretched out and released yourself from his hold, you realize he was silent, his chest still rising and falling gently. _He was still asleep._

If it weren’t for these damnable helmets, you would have had to fight the urge to caress his face a lot more than you did. Instead, you settled for gazing at him for a few moments in the morning silence. You were sure under that visor, his face was peaceful.

It was unusual for you to wake up before Brown, and glancing around, you noticed both your boy and Black were also still sleeping peacefully. Being the first one up, you had little ideas of what to do.

Usually, you were the last to wake, all three of them needing less sleep than you- well, other than Thomas who was still quite lethargic with his changes. You side eyed him, still somewhat sleepy and trying to wake. Nope, he was still the same as ever.

Your stomach lightly growled, and you crawled to where your pack was, not far off. Rummaging through it, you grimaced at your low rations, and took out one of the energy bars you’d had a thought to pack. Chewing lightly, you saw Brown finally starting to stir. Did he normally wake up first? How long did he usually sit there, holding you in the mornings? When did both Black and Thomas wake up? You suddenly felt a bit self conscious.

You shuffled a bit, causing your boots to scuff against the floor. You watched Brown as he twitched a bit, the arm that hour’s been previously tucked under searching for it’s missing person.

The sound, paired with what you assumed was the absence of you, made Brown sit up quite sharply, his head whipping around the room faster than you would ever see a human do. Faintly behind the visor, an eye glowed to life.

Until, that is, he spotted you. The eye immediately disappeared, and his shoulders, which you hadn’t noticed tense up, relaxed. He flopped back against the wall he was resting against in his relief, and then, as you watched, his body language shifted to that of…bashful? His hand rose to his helmet, resting on his ‘cheek’, and he…turned his head away?

This all happened in the span of about ten seconds. Why was Brown so cute? Your insides twisted with the want to simply scoop him into your arms.

Instead, you tried to brighten your disposition and wave at him. Just doing it made you feel dumb, but the movement caught his attention, and he finally glanced at you again. With his attention now on you, you beckoned him over, ready to either get to work, or at least take a look at the state of the rest of the ship.

He hesitated for a second, but in the end came to you easily enough. With a glance at Black and Thomas, he tilted his head at you in question. Should you wake them? It would be a good idea to wake Black at least and let him know the two of you were going to wander for a bit… but looking at them, you also wanted to let Black rest. Everyone had been working so hard, and both of the impostor adults especially had taken on caring for Thomas while you’d been slowly weakening over the travel between Skelds’.

In the end, the choice was made for you as Thomas decided to wake up and start wailing. Black, startled from sleep, flung his body upward and into a defensive position, a little more intense but nearly the same as Brown had. It made sense, you thought, being in a strange place with dubious security.

Before you even had a chance to move towards your child to offer some comfort, Black was already there, shushing Thomas in their strange but pleasant language. You watched as your small boy was scooped up and cuddled, and you relaxed. He was in good hands.

The upset must have to do with his growing- you’d never heard him make a sound like that before, poor boy. But it did remind you of human children- some of which cried just to cry. It hadn’t sounded despairing, or painful, or startled. Just a wail, maybe a nightmare? Still, the sound wasn’t right.

“He’s okay?” you asked quietly after the noise had died down into little sniffles. Black looked at you, your reflection stared back at you. He nodded in confirmation, and his body sagged into the wall.

“All is well, don’t worry. You’re up earlier than usual?” you glanced at Brown and then to your feet.

“Yeah, I woke up first today. Must be the change in scenery…” you laughed to yourself quietly for a moment before continuing, “I was thinking of taking Brown with me and checking out some of the other rooms for supplies.”

Black nodded, but his tone and words didn’t match, “It would be best if we stuck together. Safer.”

You could only agree. Logically, staying together would be best in case of dangers. After the ship gets cleared? Free reign, but you had to be smart. Waking up first must have really jostled your thoughts- or you were distracted by _someone._

Out of the corner of your eye, you glanced at Brown once more. He was standing a bit listlessly, looking this way and that.

Aargh, cute.

What was wrong with you today?

Mentally shaking yourself back to the present, you voiced your agreement, “I agree, that’s a good idea. I supposed we can start with the cafeteria stores since we’re here anyway, just til Thomas is ready to move for the day.”

Black nodded, and you moved away from the corner you’d made into a nest. The cafeteria storage was beside the vending machines. On your Skeld, it was filled with mostly air dried ingredients, so you hoped this one was the same. There was enough snow outside to melt down into water, and you were sure somewhere you could either find fodder for a fire, or a portable stove that still worked.

You were determined to regain some strength and energy. You were tired of being tired, and the cold certainly didn’t help. Your bones felt stiff, every move sent a wave of crackles through each joint at different intervals, and you felt a little self conscious with that being one of the only sounds in the large, echoing cafeteria. Glancing back at your companions, you noticed they were both watching you stiffly.

Right, aliens and bone cracking didn’t mix. What did they do when they had a mouth full of bones? Did that bother them too, or was it a moot point since they were going to snap while eating them anyway?

Well, you unlocked the mechanism, and slowly opened the storage. Lo and behold, beyond all hopes, it was nearly half full.

For just one human, this was a lot of food, and any air-dried proteins could go to the impostors too. They wouldn’t enjoy it, but it would help substitute their proteins a little more than what they already had and hopefully extend their more important rations.

If they went hungry…well, would you be in a bad predicament? You trusted them. You voted no.

You made a joyous noise as you turned to your boys. Brown was directly behind you, making you just a bit, but no matter. A little shyly, you leaned on his arm. “Good news everyone! The stores are almost half full, we won’t have to worry about food for a little while we get things operational.”

You clapped a bit, but they didn’t seem to get it. Oh well.

Separating yourself from Brown, you turned towards the vending machines and saw they were mostly full as well. This was great. Now, you just had to get one of these doors open when everyone was ready, and take a look through the ship. You kept a mental count of the bodies, and thought about the possibility of running into another one of those monsters. There was at least two, with one being dead. The chances of you running into it were extremely slim, but not zero.

There were five bodies here, two monsters…that left three crewmates not accounted for. Three possible monsters; and that’s only if no one was ejected on the way here. Some crews had a very suspicion based mob mentality when it came to the possibility of impostors on board.

More than likely at least one of those missing people got ejected. You were lucky your crew had bonded quickly over White’s death- kind of. The buddy system probably had the most to do with it.

Footsteps echoed in the large cafeteria, and ack now came to stand near both you and Brown, the little one in his arms.

“He’s asleep again.” Is all he said. You took this as your cue to direct Brown at the doors- to shimmy one open just enough for the four of you to get through.

He did as instructed, making just enough room for the largest of you (Black), and Brown also took the initiative and slipped through the doors first, just in case anything untoward was on the other side. While he did that, you looked toward Black.

“I can carry him if you want?” you offered. It wouldn’t be great- you being the weakest of the three of you, but you were sure you could do it.

Instead, Black shook his head. “No, his weight distribution is fluctuating. It’s better if one of us carry him- we wouldn’t want him to accidentally hurt you.”

Weight distribution? You’d picked Thomas up plenty of times. You questioned Black about it.

“Impostors have a true weight and a disguised weight, to help match with whatever face we’re wearing at the time. Our ‘true’ form is much heavier. When our little ones go through their phases, they tend to lose control over this, so he’s quite heavy.”

Ah. You understood, kind of. Thank goodness for Black’s penchant to explain things simply.

Black gestures with his head towards the door, as his arms were full of a child, “Ladies first.”

You went as prompted, finding Brown on the other side waiting, his arm outstretched to help steady you (though unnecessary). You flashed a smile that he couldn’t see and gave a quiet thanks.

You stood out of the way as Black followed behind you, and you surveyed the hallway briefly. It was dark, and for a moment you wanted to go back for your glowstick of a walking stick. Unfortunately Brown was already starting his way down the hallway, so you had little choice but to follow. The further from the cafeteria you got, the darker it got, and eventually you were nearly completely blind. You couldn’t even see Brown in front of you, and you slowed down as a consequence of it. You started sliding your feet, and the sound made you cringe, but it was better than tripping over anything.

Behind you, Black spoke, “Alright there, Pink?”

Did impostors have perfect night vision? That would make sense, being a predator and all. And they didn’t realize you weren’t the same- how embarrassing.

You stammered a bit on your reply, hating every second of it, “I, erm, I can’t see. It’s too dark.”

The sound of movement stopped in front of you, so you stopped as a consequence as well. In the still darkness, with this quiet, you felt nearly completely alone, and you were a little bit scared.

You wondered if they could smell fear.

Something touched your arm and you yelped a bit, the sound loud to your ears. “Don’t worry, Pink. It’s just me.” Brown, oh thank goodness, you didn’t think your heart could take a fright like that.

There was a chittering from Black, and Brown made a similar, shorter noise back. More reluctant. Black scoffed a bit and made a sound a bit more forceful, and Brown seemed to agree, for he sighed, and the hallway lit up with an orangish glow.

Brown had six eyes glowing through his visor and into the hallway, they were bright, and you couldn’t help yourself from gasping softly. He eyes narrowed in on you, and you were close enough to see the pupils contract and expand minutely.

You took a moment to gaze into them, the emotion in Brown’s eyes nervous but gentle, and you realized after a moment that you were holding your breath.

That look, that emotion, it made your chest feel like it was seizing up.

Without a doubt, you were in love with this man.

They were waiting for you to react, you realized. Seeing an alien show you parts that weren’t human? Were they expecting you to react badly? Instead, you wanted to reach out and touch the mask around them.

You couldn’t help the small, extremely quiet word that escaped you, “…Beautiful.”

And Brown exploded into a lighter shade of yellow. Oh, they could change colour.

Black let out a stern sounding growly chirp, and Brown went back to the orange colour he’d been resting at before. With this new source of light, he began moving forward once more, the hand resting on his arm moving down to hold your hand.

You let Brown lead you, and you didn’t complain about the warm hand leading you.

You passed by what you recognized as medbay, and tugged Brown to a stop. This would be an important room.

Black sat Thomas down against the wall beside the doors- if anything was going to burst through, it was going to see him last. He moved you gently as well, and you took a spot beside your boy. Brown and Black looked at each other, got in what could be passed as a ready stance, and heaved the doors open as one.

They didn’t open all the way, but half was good enough for Black to slip through. Faintly, you could see a red glow in the room. More of the red crystals.

Soon enough, Black peered out and beckoned the three of you in. Brown lifted Thomas, and beckoned for you to enter first, you did.

The sight of the medbay wasn’t nearly as horrifying as the cafeteria, but two of the missing three crewmates were found.

Strapped to one of the medbay beds lie another one of the creatures- it lay flayed open, it’s decomposed organs laying visible to the room. If you could smell through your suit, you were sure it would be absolutely revolting.

Another in a lab coat, clearly the doctor of this expedition, lay on the floor beside the bed, the claw of the monster going clear through his chest. Both were obvious dead and decaying, but the crystals had made them inseparable, and the samples in the test tubes had also overgrown their casings.

That left one unaccounted for, one last possible danger.

Assuming the crew was only ten members strong.

As you skimmed through the supplied quickly, you realized everything in the room was contaminated. Nothing was sanitary, nothing was useful. You sighed in frustration and shook your head, “this room has nothing good.”

At least Thomas lie fast asleep in Brown’s arms. He wouldn’t have to observe another horror on this ship just yet.

All three (four) of you slipped out of med bay, closed the doors behind you, and you moved on.

The rest of the ship resulted in it being devoid of life, only a few boxes in storage contained anything useful- fuel, and medical supplies you could actually use, thank goodness. You hoped this would be enough.

The last thing you would need is to find tools, and preferably a welding gun or three. That would be an imperative tool if you were ever to leave this planet with a useable ship.

You probably wouldn’t be able to fix the ship, but it would be stable enough to fly the short distance you’d traveled over the past two weeks. You had utmost confidence in your situation and that everything would turn out alright- you had to. There was no other way to have the level of hope you needed.

And as you searched the last room, communications, you found the last member of the crew.

They were alive.

**Author's Note:**

> Its really rough but that's fine, if I finish it I'll probably rewrite it to be better and longer


End file.
